


Showered

by Ookamisama



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:08:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23261479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ookamisama/pseuds/Ookamisama
Summary: When an unexpected encounter after a girls night out turns her life upside down, Yona might just realize that the thing she wants most has been within reach all this time..
Relationships: Son Hak/Yona
Comments: 59
Kudos: 145





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a rather old story that's been lurking on my PC for some time now - and as it is one of the longer ones and I already know where I'm going with the plot, I decided to just post it now, even though it's rather bumpy I guess..
> 
> Hope you like it, anyway ~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> „I thought I'd have to beat up some burglar or someth– what the hell?!“
> 
> What should have been an angry speech caught in her throat.
> 
> „Uhm.. morning?“, a deep, hoarse voice rang in her ears. One that definitely didn't belong to Lili, at all.

_Bang!_

Oh god. Couldn't someone _relieve_ her from this agony? Preferably with one of those fluffy, soft pillows surrounding her weak body for some reason – it certainly had to be possible to suffocate someone with one of those, right? Then she wouldn't have to bear the terrible pounding inside her head any longer, which felt as if someone was trying to jack-hammer his way through her skull.

How could she possibly be able to develop some clear thought through those sharp stabs piercing her mind? Perhaps she could –

_Bang! Splash!_

Alright, what was _that_?

Her poor brain was already totally overtaxed with the sunlight streaming through her closed lids, but she knew that sound all too well, and she was just about seventy-percent sure that it wasn't just in her head, either.

The damped sound of water hitting the tiles one room over rang far too loud in her ears to be ignored; someone was in her bathroom. A pained moan ripped from her lips when she rolled over onto her stomach, pushing her aching head deep beneath one of her decorative pillows once again.

God damnit, how could it be so hard to concentrate on her surroundings for two seconds instead of on the pounding beneath her temples?

Another groan fell from her rosy lips when she was finally able to open her eyes. A white ceiling. Creme walls with lots of pictures, pale mint-green curtains. Alright, she knew those, not too bad for a start.

She glanced to the side then; a dark wooden nightstand sporting a familiar alarm clock and an old picture frame featuring three grinning kids sitting right next to it – two boys and a girl, probably not older than twelve, even though the little redhead seemed a few years younger than her friends.

It was a picture of herself as a child, naturally with her best friends Soo-Won and Hak; the former smiling sweetly for the camera, the other grinning smugly while messing up her carefully brushed hair with a quick hand, ensuring that her annoyed glare over her shoulder and back at him was caught on the picture for eternity.

„Alright, let's sum it up, Yona. You're lying in your bed, in your room, in your apartment. Which you occupy on your own. You've got no idea how you got here. Oh, and not to forget.. _someone's showering in your bathroom!“_

Her little monologue mounted into a veritable panic attack at the last thought and she sat up immediately.

What the hell was going on? How could just anybody enter her apartment?! She only remembered visiting some bar with Lili the night before, but after the third cocktail her memory resembled a big, fat, huge black hole in her head.

Had she taken some guy home with her? But that jsut wasn't something she _did_!

Her head snapped down, panicked eyes fixing on her body as quick, small hands pulled the blanket away.

She exhaled in relief – she was still dressed. Granted, only in her underwear, but dressed nonetheless.

Weakly, she let herself drop back onto the mattress, nestling into the sea of pillows surrounding her. As her frantic mind calmed down again with a deep, relaxed sigh, she didn't even know what had her so worried in the first place anymore so early in the morning. Everything was alright; she had returned home safely last night, even if she didn't know the details about it, and the rest would be clear as soon as she cornered Lili for details later.

Pleased with that thought, she took a deep breath.

Soon, she'd be asleep again, and later – hopefully without that damn headache – she'd wake up to start her day, well-rested and happy. It was Sunday, anyway; she didn't even know why she was awake so early anymore, anyway. A quick look at her alarm clock reading 8am had her groaning irritably.

Whatever. Snuggling deeper into the warmth of her soft bed, she closed her weary eyes again, feeling herself drifting off already –

_Bang! Splash! Bang!_

– And she shot up again.

Boy, was she out of it. How could she have forgotten? Now she remembered the reason she woke up again.

Noise. From her bathroom. Even though she lived here alone.

What the hell was going on?!

Wide awake now, she crawled out of bed, hardwood floor creaking quietly beneath her bare feet as she made her way towards the bedroom door.

Dear lord, why had she only drunk so much? She felt terrible, and she was almost sure her face had to have taken on a sickly green color in the meantime, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins let her forget all about her sickness. Turning the knob slowly, the door finally opened, and she had a clear view of the hallway leading to the living room.

As quietly as possible she tiptoed down the corridor, and for the first time in her life she was actually thankful for that awful carpet Jae-Ha had given her, as none of her steps were audible whatsoever when she crept nearer to the room those strange noises originated from. She honestly wouldn't have paid a cent for something so gaudy, even if her life depended on it, but in his opinion it was a masterpiece.. whatever.

Coming to a halt just in front of the door, she was seconds from opening it when her gaze fell onto the shinai leaning on the wall next to her bedroom door. The old bamboo sword had been a present from Yoon; he thought she was as helpless in serious situations as he himself and should possess something to defend herself with.

Quickly walking over and closing a shaky hand around the hilt, she couldn't help but notice how few of her belongings she had actually bought by herself – most of it had been presents by her closest friends it seemed – before finally fixing her stare on the bathroom door again.

Or better, on the floor beneath the bathroom door.

_What the..?_

She hadn't noticed before, but there, probably taken off in a hurry and just thrown to the ground without any care, laid Lili's royal blue silk scarf; the very same she had worn yesterday for their girls night. Yona honestly had no idea how she could even remember that fact, but then it crossed her mind that it was her who had talked Lili into donning it. Her outfit had been rather revealing, after all, and the cool night air would have called for warmer clothing altogether.

But that's neither here nor there.

A slow smile spread on Yona's lips; she had worried over nothing it seemed. If it was Lili's scarf lying there in front of her, it could only be her friend who was showering behind that door. Really, it wasn't that uncommon, either; the other girl didn't live as close to the bar as she did, and sometimes she just didn't want to walk all the way home, opting to instead crash at Yona's. Granted, she usually was gone already when Yona got up the next day, but perhaps she had more time today?

Relaxing her rigid stance, she propped the shinai against her shoulder and opened the door with a grin.

„Do you have any idea how much you freaked me out just now, Lili?“, she shook her head at herself, „I thought I'd have to beat up some burglar or someth – what the _hell_?!“

What should have been an angry speech caught in her throat.

„Uhm.. morning?“, a deep, hoarse voice rang in her ears. One that definitely _didn't_ belong to Lili, _at all._

In front of her, in _her_ tiny bathroom, in _her_ tub, beneath _her_ rain shower, stood none other than the black-haired boy she had just regarded in the picture on her nightstand mere minutes before – _naked._

Only this version of him was 6'3'', twenty-five, and without any doubt _no boy anymore_.

Hak, her best friend for as long as she could remember, was staring at her over his shoulder with bored eyes; the only thing belying any agitation due to this weird situation were his rather straight posture and his obviously tense shoulders – broad shoulder, _muscled_ shoulders which she hadn't had the opportunity to admire like this up to now, always kept hidden beneath the wide tees he usually wore.

But now she could admire them.

And god, _did_ she admire them, because there was no T-shirt this time. All of his trained, hard body was there for the world to see, barely three feet from her, and her gaze was all but glued to his twitching muscles, making it clear he was rather unsure whether he should fight or flee just then.

She couldn't believe herself; couldn't believe what she was doing. It kind of felt like one of those out-of-body experiences people were talking about regarding near-death experiences; where you saw your body from a third person perspective, not able to take action, only doomed to watch disaster strike in every painful little detail.

And, oh boy, did she _notice_ the details right now.

Hard back muscles flexed under glistening skin, and she couldn't help it as her tongue flicked across her suddenly dry lip at the view. It seemed humanly impossibly to rip her gaze from his incredible upper body – when she suddenly noticed his _lower_ body, and her eyes were drawn south almost immediately.

With his back facing in her direction, it was almost impossible not to stare at his ass, honestly. And, contrary to the situation with his shoulders, she had already known for years just how much she liked that particular part of his body. Even when they still went to school together, she had often let her gaze roam when he walked in front of her – not that she'd ever tell him that.

Her eyes lowered even more, down to his defined thighs, and she was once again faced with the benefits it brought to be a PE teacher. She had often devoured him with violet orbs – and why the hell not, seeing as he'd already had that incredible body as a high schooler – but the full view in front of her hit her absolutely unprepared, overstraining her poor brain as it scrambled to save every little aspect of his complexion.

She was beating herself up mentally for acting like a hormonal teenager and not running back out of the room immediately, while his sharp, ice-blue eyes catalogued her every motion over his shoulder. During the minute she was already standing there and staring at him – _taking a shower_ – just about hundreds of emotions ran through his confused mind.

Surprise, of course, because he hadn't really expected to be ogled so blatantly already that early in the morning.

Then astonishment, because Yona was suddenly staring at him as if he was her breakfast. Not that she hadn't done that before, but the situation at hand was just a tad bit more extreme. All the other times she had stared at his ass so far (as if he wouldn't notice that), he'd at least had _some_ clothes on.

And finally uncertainty, not because of his looks, no, but because of the whole encounter, confusion, because she _still_ hadn't looked away after about half a minute, and then an unbelievable rush of self-satisfaction for the same reason.

Water rained down his form, trickling over his hair, his neck. It had turned cold in the meantime, but considering the little redhead standing behind his back, mouth still opened in shock, it might not even have been that bad.

He didn't quite know what possessed him to take his next action, just that he suddenly shifted his weight a little, ran his hands quickly back through his dripping hair and turned around to face Yona head-on.

Completely naked.

Her eyes went wide when she realized that he was turning around all of a sudden. Gaze snapping to his hands, she saw him reaching up to and leaning on the wooden beam gracing the ceiling just above the tub. Most likely an unconscious move for someone his size; he didn't even have to stretch his arms.

As he leant forward the slightest bit in order to match her eye-level, she once again couldn't help but notice just how tall he was, and her eyes almost dropped lower again to take a good look at the rest of him, now that he had given her the opportunity, when the wicked look in his striking eyes and his broad smirk made her freeze.

„Say, wanna take a picture, perhaps? Lasts longer.“ His lips pulled into a feral smile, fixing her with an intrigued stare. „Although you could probably draw me with your eyes closed already, staring at me for so long ..“

If possible, her eyes widened even more, and her mouth dropped open at his cheekiness. A hot blush rose to her face as soon as his words registered, and anger briefly took over, surpassing her embarrassment, as she grit her teeth, raising her chin defiantly.

„W-what would I need a nude of _you_ of all people for, Hak? And what the hell are you even doing here? If you didn't notice, that's _my_ shower! And .. and _my_ beam you're leaning on there!“ Her mouth closed briefly and she licked her lip in an unconscious gesture – one she couldn't control and for which she mentally kicked herself as she noticed how his stupid grin only grew with a knowing look.

„And why are you standing there without a care in the world?! T-turn around again!“

„Aw, c'mon, princess. You were checking out my ass for such a long time, I thought I oughta show ya the front view as well.“ Her face had to be the color of her hair at his old nickname for her, and when she glanced at the floor in shame, mumbling some half-assed excuses, he couldn't hold back his laughter anymore.

Immediately her fiery eyes snapped back to him.

„It wasn't like that at all, you idiot! I thought you were a burglar!“, she screamed, trying to hit him over the head with her almost forgotten shinai to get him to stop laughing at her. She knew she had stared at him and that he would never let that fact go – but that didn't mean he had to start harassing her about it right now.

However, before she could beat him up, his hand quickly snatched her wrist, pulling her into him. Her wide eyes fixed his broad, muscled chest, and her fingertips suddenly burned with the urge to glide over naked skin.

„Ah, so ya had to look me over so _thoroughly_ to ensure I wasn't one, right? Makes so much sense..“ His voice rang deep in her ears, and with every other second she was less and less sure what she was even doing there. Her eyes found his, couldn't look away, until his suddenly dropped lower with a confused pull of dark eyebrows.

She followed his stare and – for the first time since her little panic attack back in her bed – she realized that she was only wearing her underwear. Black with crimson lace, one of her more delicate pieces that she had bought during her last year of high school in another stupid try to seduce Soo-Won. The irony that Soo-Won had never seen any of it, but that his former best friend seemed to enjoy the view all the more instead, wasn't entirely lost on her.

„Alright, princess. Either you step outside, let me finish my shower, and we debate all the how's and why's of this really _fascinating_ meeting here in the bathroom afterwards in the living room, _clothed_ for a change, or you strip down and join me. In that case, we can talk about the details in a few hours, I guess..“ His eyes blazed like blue flames, and the skin on her wrist his hand was gripping seemed to all but burn.

She knew he was being a sarcastic little shit, just like he always was, teasing her and enjoying every minute of it, but in that moment she wasn't actually able to find any argument against his second suggestion..

As soon as he saw the indecision in her eyes, his own widened almost comically, until he was grinning at her again, broad smirk in place once more, and she snapped out of her stupor in a second.

Angrily she pulled her hand from his grasp, stepping back.

„Hak, you idiot. Get dressed and then step outside – nobody wants to see... that...!“ Gesturing weakly at his body without taking another look, her blush burned brighter as she turned around and all but fled from the scene. He was only able to hear her repeated mumbling of 'Stupid Hak' before her bedroom door slammed closed behind her and he was finally alone again; with his thoughts and an uncomfortably cold shower.

Sighing deeply, he turned the knob, and the icy rain above him ran dry.

*

*

*

„Hey..“, he said briefly with an awkward wave of his hand as he stepped into her living room ten minutes later. With the towel in his other hand, he rubbed at his wet hair before throwing it across his shoulders lazily and turning towards her.

She was sitting on the sofa, legs pulled up to her chest as she leant back against the armrest. One tiny hand gripped a hot pink mug, probably more of that gross brand of coffee she loved so much, while her other scrolled through new notifications on her phone.

„Hey yourself“, she answered and let her gaze wander from the device to him. „Want some coffee as well?“

„I'd rather have some Sake, given the situation, but coffee works as well“, he murmured and dropped into the cushions next to her weakly.

She threw him an amused look and disappeared through the door next to the TV. „Black, no sugar, as usual?“, her voice sounded damped, ringing from the other room, before her flamy little head popped through the doorway to the kitchen, fixing him with a questioning glance.

He nodded briefly and took the mug from her when she took her seat next to him again. He took a huge sip and set the cup down on the coffee table before leaning back against the backrest.

„Did you sleep here?“, she asked, glancing at the rumbled blanket at the lower end of the couch, and he turned his head to face her.

„Yes. Say, how much did ya even drink yesterday? When I met up with you guys you were already slightly out of it, but when it was time to go home I had to carry you.“ His eyebrow rose at the sheepish look on her face at that. „By the way, I had to rifle through your bad to find your keys“, his grin looked anything but apologetic. „Just how many guys did you want to hook up with? That had to be at least a whole box of condo-“

„-Alright, alright, stop it. It was Lili's idea, not that I have to explain myself to you, you womanizer!“ She stuck out her tongue and he barked out a laugh. „Anyway, how come you didn't just drive home afterwards? I mean, you got a whole house to yourself, why settle for a tiny sofa instead?“ Her tone turned teasing. „Or did Mundok change his mind and he doesn't want you to take over after all?“

Hak's head turned away in thought and his eyes fixed the ceiling, contemplating. „I already told ya yesterday, princess. I had a pipe burst at the Dojo, now everything's flooded. I was able to save most of the important stuff, loading everything into my car, but the repair work is gonna take weeks at least. The floors are done for, the walls have to be dried..“, he closed his eyes, feeling so tired all of a sudden, until she shot up next to him.

„That's horrible, Hak! What are you supposed to do now? Can you even teach with the Dojo closed? And where the hell are you gonna live?!“, her upset expression made his heart clench, and a quick little finger stabbed his bicep when he didn't show any reaction to the words. „Don't just lie there like that! This is serious!“

„Well“, he grinned, „your drunk self went on and on about how lonely it was to live here without a flatmate, and that I should just move in for the time being. How about your sober self..?“

Stunned, she closed her mouth and stared at him, totally unable to formulate a thought as his handsome face turned towards her in question before a low chuckle sounded from his chest and he turned away again.

„It's alright, princess. I didn't expect anything from you. You already helped me out enough with letting me stay the night“, he reassured her while standing up. „I'm gonna go get my stuff from the bathroom and then I'll hit the road. We'll see each other at work tomorrow, anyway.“

He turned towards the hallway when a hand closed around his wrist all of a sudden, holding him back. He turned around only to be met with her flashing eyes.

„Are you out of your mind? You think I'd just close the door in my best friend's face? Hak, you idiot.. You can stay as long as you like. I was only surprised because I can't remember anything about yesterday..“, she looked down in shame and took a small sip from her mug.

„You sure?“, he asked sceptically, settling back down on the sofa. „I don't wanna be a pain..“

„Sure. Just do me a favor.“

„What is it?“

„..Lock the door next time.“

His barking laughter followed her into the kitchen when she got up to get another cup of coffee – and somehow, she couldn't wipe the stupid smile off her face as well.


	2. Good Reflexes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they were standing in the hallway alone, she finally took a good look at him. Oh boy, how could someone just nail a damn basketball shirt and simple shorts that much? And to top it off, he seemed to have worked up quite the sweat with his students; he didn't look nearly as beat as them, no, but little droplets dripped along his neck and disappeared in the cloth of his shirt nonetheless.
> 
> She almost facepalmed then. What the hell had happened to her yesterday?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey there - sorry for being MIA for so long, but here's a new chapter at last. hope you enjoy it, and I'd be happy if you told me how you felt about it afterwards :) thanks for the feedback so far <3

„You did _what_?“

If her totally dumbfounded look didn't already lead everybody within a ten meter radius to look at her funnily, her disbelieving cry sure did.

„Shut up! Tell me, could you be any louder?! The colleagues one room over didn't hear you quite yet!“, Yona spat. When she was telling Lili everything about yesterdays everts over the last ten minutes, she hadn't actually expected to be screamed like that.

„Sorry“, the black-haired woman whispered then, suddenly seeming shy. „Your little story just surprised me, is all. I'll probably need another hour to digest all that information..“

She smiled calmly at Yona, who could only buy her head into her crossed arms on the table with a low groan. Just like she had done at least ten times before already.

„Alright, let me summarize“, had she bowed down to take a look at the redhead's face, she could have admired the other woman's hundredth eye roll that day. „You woke up, heard some strange noise from the bathroom, grabbed your totally unused bamboo sword you probably have no idea how to use“, an annoyed glance from her friend let her know just how much she appreciated her little commentary, but she just went on, „then you saw my scarf lying on the ground – the one you found so pretty saturday evening you just grabbed it and _refused_ to let go, if you were wondering – and then you came to the conclusion, and, my greatest admiration for that, Sherlock, great reasoning, that it could only be me inside the bathroom! Then you just casually shouldered your sword – “

„Alright, that's enough! It's my life we're talking about, not some essay! Quit those flowery descriptions - “

„ – and then you just went in, while the shower was still running, where you – surprise, surprise – found a rather wet and rather naked Hak instead of me. Did I get that right so far?“

Suddenly feeling too weak to even argue anymore, Yona let herself fall back into her seat, throwing her friend a pained glance. „I just told you. Is your memory troubling you or are you just enjoying my bad luck?“

„In this case I have to admit: the latter“, the dark-haired girl grinned before letting out a dark, almost evil laugh. „Now that was great so far, really – I can't wait to know how it played out from there!“ A brief chuckle, then she concentrated on the other woman again. „Though I guess it can't actually get any better than that, I suppose..“

„Yeah, well, then I was standing in front of the tub .. and he was standing _in_ the tub .. – “

„Yes, yes – spare me the slow-mo recap and get to the details, woman! Did you even see anything before you fainted from embarrassment?“ Her wide grin was fixed on Yona, who sucking in a breath indignantly at that last comment.

„I did not faint from embarrassment! And I've seen more than enough as well, thank you very much!“ In an edge of pure maturity she resorted to her last line of defense – sticking out her tongue like a three-year-old.

Who ever said being an adult was easy?!

The other woman did her best to suppress another bout of laughter at that, taking a quick sip of coffee before turning her sparkling eyes back on her friend. „'More than enough'? Now what am I supposed to make of _that_? How long did you even stand there?“

Another hot blush spread across Yona's cheeks. „Dunno. Four.. five minutes?“

The incredulous look the black-haired girl shot her had her bury her head in her palms again. „I'm not sure I heard that right, Yona – did you actually say 'seconds' or ' _minutes_ ' right now?!“

„...Minutes.“

„Oh boy. Ohhh boy, oh boy – oh _boy_! I can't believe it!“, now she actually had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard, that was too rich, far too rich! „So Hak just stood there in your tub for five minutes, like a good Dobermann, and let you stare at him?!“ The redheads head hit her hands again, and she was almost hoping to never have to look up again.

„Oh, don't worry“, now Lili almost felt bad for her, placing a placating hand on her shoulder. „He probably thinks you're still swooning over Soo-Won. I don'T think he's taking it too seriously. Besides, who could even blame you for staring at someone like Hak for god's sake – I mean, did you see his body?“ Another dry look from Yona. „Right, sorry, of course you did. But you know what I mean! I honestly think the term 'Sex On Legs' was created specifically for _him_ – “

„Hey Yona! Got a second?“, a deep voice suddenly rang from behind them as Hak's head suddenly appeared through the door.

Totally stunned, Lili and Yona turned around from their seats at the teacher's desk, but before the latter could even begin to form a sentence, she was beat to the punch by her so called friend, a huge smirk quickly spreading on Lili's lips at the sudden arrival.

„But of course! I was just leaving – you know Yona would never leave you out in the rain, Hak“, she winked, and seeing Yona's horrified face she quickly threw them a wave, hurrying past the dark-haired man into the hall without another word.

Hak's gaze followed the girl confusedly until she disappeared around the corner before turning to Yona; only to watch as she dropped her head onto her crossed arms on the desk with a colorful curse before laying there motionlessly.

„Hey, you ok? Got a headache or somethin? There should be some aspirin in my office if you want it..“, he jerked his thumb past his shoulder as if to state that he'd only have to run to the gym real fast. Sighing deeply, the young woman sat up again and found his worried gaze.

„Thanks, but that's not gonna be necessary. With Lili it's more of a .. mental weariness, nothing serious“, she forced a calming smile that didn't reassure him at all. „What did you need?“

„Just wanted to ask when you're gonna be finished today“, he grinned sheepishly at her, „you're kinda my key figure right now..“

Her eyes widened in understanding.

„Oh no! I'm so sorry, Hak! I didn't even think about the key problem..“ She bit her lip in thought. „I've got another two hours today, then I'm free.“ God, she should have thought about it – they had even driven to school together in the morning – they'd have to go home together as well. She turned to him with a hopeful glance, but his dark look let her keep talking in panic. „But I can totally wait for you, it's not a problem! And tonight I'll look for the spare key!“

Now she couldn't help but smile at him – it was so typical of him to worry about such small things.

„You sure? I feel like you'll throw me out again before the week's over if I keep being such a nuisance..“ His lips turned up the slightest bit as well. „I got another two hours as well – but I always stay longer on Mondays. There's some guys for 12th grade wanting to study sports, so I'm helping them train a little..“ He rubbed at his neck in embarrassment, not meeting her wide eyes. „I hope that's okay?“

A startled laugh fell from her lips. Was she supposed to rant at him for helping others without expecting anything in return now? Boy, he was such an idiot. „Of course that's okay“, her smile turned devilish, and Hak gulped, somehow expecting the worst. „But only if I get to watch. I've only worked here for about a year, after all. I didn't get to see you in action up to now – something I no doubt have to make up for.“

And oh boy, he was speechless from the looks of it, staring at her with wide eyes and open mouth, and she was almost basking in her small victory when he suddenly got his bearing and a smirk of his own started to stretch his lips. She gulped at his face when he bowed down to her eye level.

„Of course, princess. You have to see Mr. 'Sex-On-Legs' at work, after all, right?“

With a self-satisfied grin he winked at her before strolling to the door with a nonchalant air. And behind him, one could only hear the dull thump of Yona's head hitting the tabletop once again.

  
  


*

*

*

  
  


Her heels were clicking on the marble floor as she walked down the hallway towards the gym. She'd just finished the last of her history lessons for the day, and it seemed she was just on time to nearly be ran over by a bunch of eighteen-year-olds filing out of the changing rooms.

„Hey teach! You're late!“, one of them called, and she just turned to him in confusion, halting in her tracks. Late?

„That's right – we're finished for the day, there's nothing left to see“, another one grinned then, making her raise an unimpressed eyebrow.

„You think she came just to take a look at you sops?“, a dry voice suddenly rang from the entrance to the gym, laced with humor. Everybody turned to Hak then, leaning a baseball bat against his shoulder all casually. Looking at him, she instantly was reminded of the way he had grabbed that beam in her bathroom the day before, and she quickly shook her head to dismiss the thought.

„Absolutely. I could smell all the way from the first floor – hit the showers, you buffalos“, she intercepted, trying to keep her dirty, dirty mind from thinking about Hak standing in her shower as her students broke into a laugh and walked past her.

It was Hak, for god's sake! Hak! Over the last few years, she'd caught herself more and more often thinking about him; thinking about how he always supported her, how nice he could actually be beneath his rough exterior – but only when it came to her – and how she'd probably never find someone like him for herself as a boyfriend, husband, whatever. She had learned to quickly stuff all of those musings directly back to where they came from whenever they popped up, but now, after seeing so much naked skin, it suddenly seemed impossible.

What the hell was wrong with her? How could she just lust after her best friend like that?

She'd been in love with Soo-Won for years, only outgrowing her childish infatuation during her time in college; so why did she have to stumble from one unrequited love into the next?

And to make matters even worse, she seemed to have got it even worse now than with her blonde childhood friend; she hadn't imagined what she could do to _Soo-Won_ in her tub, after all.. She shook her head again.

Now that they were standing in the hallway alone, she finally took a good look at him. Oh boy, how could someone just nail a damn basketball shirt and simple shorts _that_ _much_? And to top it off, he seemed to have worked up quite the sweat with his students; he didn't look nearly as beat as them, no, but little droplets dripped along his neck and disappeared in the cloth of his shirt nonetheless.

She almost facepalmed then. What the hell had happened to her yesterday? Had someone spontaneously extracted the rational part of her brain or something? How could it be she suddenly didn't seem capable of diverting her eyes from the damn sweat on his skin? Even though sweaty men were usually just about at the tail end of her 'this turns me on' list. She had to get a grip, and soon, if she didn't want to slap her forehead until she didn't see anything of this awful day any longer.

„The guys are inside already – I just wanted to make sure the princess knew the way to the gym.“ And she was actually thankful for the broad grin pulling at his stupid lips just then. It was good. If he annoyed her, she could totally be normal. Yeah. Totally.

„Hak, you idiot. As if I couldn't find the biggest room in the whole building“, she huffed, shoving his shoulder with a small grin. She didn't have to tell him she'd actually asked the janitor for directions along the way, did she?

„Well, this world never ceases to astound me. But let's get going before they think I bolted“, his face turned a little more serious then, like always when he was talking about his job, but an easy smile still remained. Nodding and falling into step with him, he directly lead her to the gym, where three guys, all about eighteen, were already waiting for him impatiently.

„Sorry for making you wait. I'm sure you know Hiryuu-san – she's gonna watch today.“

They immediately turned to her, faces colored with open surprise, and she blushed a little at the attention, but no one objected anyway. „All right. So if you didn't want to do anything specific today, I thought we could do some target practise.“

Her head turned to Hak to fast she almost heard her neck pop. Target practise..? He wasn't implying what she thought he was, was he..?

„Okay. So if no one's objecting, let's go get the targets. Yona, could you fetch three bows? Just out that door to the right, you shouldn't be able to miss them.“

She only nodded jerkily before doing as she was told, walking back out to see that the targets had already been set up, and Hak was standing about ten meters from them with his students.

„Alright guys. It's been some time since I taught someone how to use a bow“, he threw her a knowing look which she totally ignored, „and I got the feeling that person's better than me in the meantime, so if you'd be so kind..?“

The guy with the long red hair bound tightly in a high ponytail and the strange tattoos along his temples threw an irritated glance at the orange-haired guy beside him. „Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Kurosaki, ya been training with him in secret, nerd?“

An annoyed huff. „Shut it, Abarai. And if he's talking about any of us, it's surely gonna be Hitsugaya, right?“ He turned to the visibly smaller, white-haired guy next to them. Yona knew all of them from one of her history classes: Renji Abarai and Ichigo Kurosaki, the biggest loudmouths of school even though she herself had no problems with them, and Toshiro Hitsugaya, practically a child prodigy who skipped not only one, but two grades as far as she knew, and was a few years younger than the other two.

„Just because I'm obviously better than you, doesn't mean I have to train for it in secret“, he returned, obviously annoyed, and Hak had to grab Ichigo and Renji at the backs of their shirts to hold them back from starting a fight at that.

„Alright, that's enough. If y'all got so much energy to waste, take a close look and learn“, Hak groaned irritatedly and threw a quick smile at Yona, while she was all but killing him with her stare. He _knew_ she didn't like practicing archery in front of an audience – she'd already told him when she'd been in tenth grade (and he in 12th); heart beating up to her throat when he had just signed her up for some sort of competition without even asking her first only to bet all of his savings on her win without a care in the world. That she'd been able to hit bullseye had been incredible luck in her opinion, but Hak, being the idiot he just was, had proceeded to jump up and down with a huge grin, telling everyone who cared to know how incredible he thought she was.

She exhaled with a sigh and passed him the other bows, keeping one for herself. „I can't believe you're talking me into this – again. Don't expect too much, I haven't handled a bow in over six years..“ Her stern glare was totally ignored as he just waved her off with a swish of his hand.

„Keep your pants on and just shoot, otherwise I'll really have to do it myself“, god, his broad grin made her blood boil from anger. Just when she was taking aim to shoot at her best friend, Renji decided to join the discussion.

„What – Hak showed you how to use a bow?! How hot is that?!“ He suddenly seemed totally interested in her, wiggling his eyebrows.

 _Hak..?!_ Her confused stare was only met with a lazy shrug of Hak's shoulders. „If I have to spent hours of my life training those idiots after school, they might as well use my given name. But enough talk now – and you, Abarai, concentrate on the technique, not on the person who's shooting, idiot“, a low growl ripped from his chest as he slapped Renji across the back of his head in annoyance.

„Alright, here goes nothing..“ Yona exhaled deeply and turned back to the target. Her skintight black jeans allowed them to take an unhindered look at her stance, and she could hear Hak murmur some pointers about the technique next to her as she slowly pulled the string back, quickly realizing her blouse wouldn't survive the full movement.

Huffing in irritation, she released the tension and handed Hak the bow, rolling her eyes at his knowing grin and quiet chuckle. The boys looked at them confusedly until their wide eyes fixed on their history teacher, shedding her blouse in the middle of the gym to finally stand there only in her black tank top before taking back the bow in exchange for her discarded shirt.

„Uhh.. still warm“, a devilish grin pulled on Hak's lips as he buried his head in the cloth, forcing a hot blush up her cheeks. Loud laughs from the background told her that the other guys found the situation quite funny.

„Hak, you moron..“, she grumbled. Widening her stance once more, she squared her shoulders and determinedly pulled back the string with her right hand. 'Focus solely on the target', his words from back then echoed in her mind. 'Both eyes open'. She concentrated on the small, black dot dead center and took in a shallow breath. 'Exhale as soon as you're ready'; air hissed past her clenched teeth -

_'Shoot!'_

The arrow sped from the string and tense lilac eyes followed it's every movement; if she didn't hit just then, she'd be the laughingstock of not only Hak but her own students as well –

But any concerns came to an abrupt halt as the arrow hit the target.

Bullseye.

A stunned laugh ripped from her chest as she turned to Hak, all wide-eyed and blushing. And, oh boy, his warm smile almost took her breath away all over again, and she realized with frightening clarity that the measly few times they still did stuff like this weren't nearly enough for her anymore. All those seemingly trivial things; archery for one, or sparring with bamboo swords at his Dojo – things they had once been doing all the time and that had never failed to make her feel accomplished, like she'd done something worthy and awesome with her own bare hands, like she'd mastered something _important._

But then, all of a sudden, those meetings had stopped, and now that she thought about it, she couldn't even remember the reason for it. She'd had so much fun back then, and she was sure so had Hak, even though he'd always been a pain about it just to push her buttons, so why – ?

And then it hit her again, and her excitement dimmed as her eyes lowered to fix a spot at their feet in shame.

Soo-Won.

He'd always been of the opinion that their training together was inappropriate. For one because Hak took her wish to get better seriously; he didn't hold back, so it hadn't been a rare occurrence for her to sport some bruises afterwards (him as well, of course – but those times had frankly been far and few between), and for another because they had to interact on fairly close quarters, skin to skin most of the time, all hot and sweaty from the exertion, and Soo-Won seemed to think it was way closer than mere friends were supposed to be.

Yona had known exactly how the blond thought about their trainings back then, and, thinking she'd be able to finally impress him in some way, had cut their spars short.

Somehow able to grasp the direction her thoughts were taking from her expression alone, Hak cleared his throat quietly and tried to find her gaze. The hand still holding her blouse came up between them, and she smiled weakly as she took it from him and quickly pulled it over her head. Hak turned from her then, pushing a bow into each of his students hands and going over the basics regarding stance and technique once more before glancing back to her and nodding his head towards the benches lined at the edge of the gym.

She nodded tersely and the both of them walked over, leaving the boys in the center to try their luck for a while.

He bent down to grab his water bottle out of nowhere, offering it to her while taking a seat, but she only shook her head no and leant against the wall next to him, too restless to take a seat like him, violet eyes fixed on the young men handling the equipment in front of them.

„We could do this more often, if you'd like..?“, his uncharacteristically soft voice ripped her from his thoughts, and she turned to look down at him, stunned silent. His eyes were still fixed on the plastic bottle in his hands, and only the whiteness of his knuckles suggested his unease with the conversation. „Although we'd have to meet at the gym here instead of the Dojo this time around, unless you wanna include swimming in the training program“, his face pulled into a pained grimace and she laughed quietly at the bad joke, turning back to see Kurosaki arguing with Abarai about his form again – no surprise there.

„That'd be really nice, Hak.“

An honest smile pulled her lips into a smile then. True, she couldn't do anything about her stupid, Soo-Won worshipping student-self anymore, but her present self wouldn't pass up the chance to right some wrongs. Her sparkling eyes found Hak's once more, and a relieved smile spread on his face as well. He opened his mouth, just getting ready for some sort of retort, when his gaze snapped towards movement in the corner of his eye and his hand snapped up like lightning.

Yona's eyes went wide from shock when she realized that he was suddenly holding an arrow – an _arrow_ – in his left fist, not even twenty centimeters from his face.

„Oh my god – I'm so sorry, bro! It wasn't on purpose, I swear!“, Renji ran over to them and came to a halt in front of them, his face a mask of concern and horror.

Hak just breathed a deep, husky laugh when the tension in his shoulders began to ease. His grip loosened along the shaft and the now broken pieces of wood fell to the floor in front of him with a dull clatter.

Ichigo and Toshiro seemed totally frozen in position and only stared at their gym teacher who proceeded to lean back against the wall without a care, fixing Renji with an almost bored stare, eyebrow raised.

„If you're gonna try to kill me, at least train your damn pull hand beforehand. Your arrows are wobbling so damn bad, you're never gonna get anywhere at this rate – “

„ _Abarai_ !“, the sudden shriek forced all of the men to jump and turn towards the redhead standing next to Hak, no longer leaning against the wall relaxedly, but instead leaning towards her frightened student with clenched fists. He was about to take a startled step back when her small hand suddenly fisted in his shirt and pulled him to her eye-level with surprising force, and boy, that burning, violet gaze was enough to promise that there was hell to pay. Renji jerked back in – he couldn't believe it, but the feeling was unmistakable – _fear_ , but she only pulled him down even further.

„I swear I could wring your neck right now, you moron! How can you miss the fucking target by ninety goddamn degrees – are you out of your damn mind?!“, she bared her clenched teeth in anger, lips pulling back in an ugly sneer. Hak could only stare at her open-mouthed; he wouldn't even have been able to say something if he wanted to.

He hadn't seen her like this since Lili'd last been hassled by some jerks at their bar, but that had to have been years back at that point, and he honestly couldn't remember her eyes burning like _that._ Nervously, he tried to swallow the knot suddenly forming in his throat before clearing it quietly.

„Listen, Yona, nothing happened, honestly. As soon as he's able to shoot a proper arrow he's going to have the aiming down as well, alright? And I can catch such lame jokes of a shot from the air any time, I promise. So don't sweat it, okay?“, he carefully tried to find her gaze.

Her eyes met his, and he had to suck in a breath. So many emotions were whirling in those lilac depths; fear and anger, mostly, and he didn't know what else he'd be able to tell her to calm the redhead down again before she ripped the boy's head clean off. She stared at him for all but five seconds in absolute silence before finally releasing a deep breath and closing her eyes in defeat. Renji's relief at getting rid of her fierce stare was palpable, but that relief didn't last too long.

The delicate woman, barely reaching his shoulder in height, suddenly grabbed his collar, turning around and throwing him over her shoulder without further ado, a growling scream ripping from her chest with the effort. With a deafening boom, his back hit the hardwood. Hard.

A pained groan was the only sound passing his lips as his friend broke into hysteric in the background, quickly running to get their phones to put the moment on record for eternity.

Yona straightened again with a huff, clapping her hands together quickly to get rid of any imaginary dust the action might have accumulated, still looking annoyed to no end, but finally calm again.

And boy, Hak could only stare at her. Stare as she lowered her head, violet eyes widening with a pained gasp as she suddenly noticed that her bluse had teared now after all. She turned to him, saying something or another, lips moving and small wrinkle forming between her brows, belying her displeasure about something, but he honestly couldn't hear her. He could only take her in; the tiny, redheaded woman with the worried look, hands on her hips, probably from exasperation because he wasn't responding to her questions, and he could only ask himself how he ever could have held back for so long.

He'd thought for years the Soo-Won was the right choice for her, the one to catch the girl, sometime. And it had been alright, really; but now that she stood in front of him, lips pulling down in an unhappy frown as she walked towards him to wave a hand up and down in front of his face as if to ask if somebody was still home, he suddenly decided that enough was enough.

His gaze focussed on her then, and when she noticed that she had his attention again, she huffed in annoyance and lowered onto her knees in front of him, bringing them eyelevel, as he was still sitting on the bench and catching his gaze.

„How can you stay so calm – anything could have happened! Just imagine you wouldn't have been able to catch it – what the hell should I've been supposed to do, then, you idiot?!“ Her words were harsh, but her eyes laid softly on his face, and before long, a relieved smiled spread her lips.

„You won't get rid of me that easily, princess, no worries“, he responded arrogantly, a calloused hand running gently through thick locks of flaming red when she leant her elbows on his knees, burying her head in her forearms and shaking it exasperatedly.

„I'd better not“, she growled and lifted up just enough to throw him a reproachful glare while Kurosaki and Hitsugaya proceeded to lift a lifeless Abarai by his hands and feet and carrying him from the gym. Their gazes met; icy blue on burning purple, and, finally alone again, they burst out laughing.


	3. Old Acquaintances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She felt a blush rising on her cheeks, coloring them the shade of her hair, but not out of embarrassment this time, no. The sudden heat had a different cause, and Hak seemed to understand that fact too, leaning closer still. He shifted his weight to one hand, bringing the other up to her face carefully.
> 
> „Yona..“, his murmur was so soft, gaze dropping to her lips, fingertips grazing along her jaw as light as a feather, and she just couldn't breathe –

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... and things slowly start to heat up a little. the storyline is really flat, honestly, and I'm kinda disappointed in my younger self for writing this lame twists and all, but I don't want to reqrite it, so I'll have to deal with it.
> 
> anyways, have fun reading, I hope you like it! <3

„Should I cook something for us?“

Hak turned away from a rather interesting documentary on Kiwis – great birds, like, seriously, even though he actually didn't have a clue how he ended up in front of the TV in the first place – and glanced at the small redhead sitting next to him on the couch, looking all too cosy in her pyjamas while reading a book.

„Not to hurt your feelings or anything, princess, but I'd like to live to see tomorrow, you know?“ With an elegance only earned by years of hard physical training, he barely managed to throw his head back against the backrest as he watched the tome fly past his face.

They had been living in Yona's apartment together for just about a week, and Hak had to admit that it was kind of nice. He'd feared that it would turn out to be beyond difficult to adjust their lifestyles to each other – they _had_ both been living alone for years, after all. Yona because of her father's sudden demise when she had only been seventeen, after her mother had already died years before that, and him because of Mundok's idiotic idea to leave Hak to care for the Dojo and move to Spain. Had to have been a rather late midlife-crisis, but whatever.

Anyways, his worries had turned out to be unfounded. They left for school together everyday and returned home in the same fashion. The hours he'd usually have spent teaching at the Dojo were now used for intensive one-on-one training with Yona at the school gym; sometimes archery, sometimes swordsmanship; and any further incidents in the bathroom at home had been prevented as well (even though he seriously wouldn't have objected surprising _Yona_ in the shower, but you just can't always get what you want, can you?).

In short, all was surprisingly well, but one fact had been confirmed over and over again during that last week, and that was Yona's hilarious inability to concoct anything remotely edible while in a kitchen.

„Shut up, Hak! It's not that bad“, she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. It was sunday evening and, seeing as the both of them spent the day watching TV and doing the laundry, he really was terribly hungry, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to stomach the n-th helping of overcooked rice and vegetables.

„No offence, but perhaps we could just – “

Just when he wanted to suggest ordering take-out at that chinese restaurant they always frequented, he was rudely interrupted by Yona's phone.

She threw him an apologetic look and lifted her index finger in the universal 'please-wait' gesture. „Hold on a second, I have to take that – it's Jae-ha.“

She swiped the green button, immediately lifting the phone to her ear and greeting their colleague and friend. They hadn't seen him in a week; as the only music teacher he was often forced to attend band-contests and all that stuff, and it wasn't all that unusual for him to be out of town for a few days then.

Hak rolled his eyes. She wouldn't even have had to tell him it was Jae-ha. His oddly melodic and still utterly annoying voice over the phone was just one of a kind.

„ _Hey, darling! Hope I'm not interrupting a marvellous evening?“_ , Hak couldn't help his snort at that, and Yona immediately stretched her leg to nudge his shoulder in reprimand with a smile.

„Oh no, you're never interrupting anything, Jae-ha. What's up?“ Now he really had to snort, and another dark look of the redhead followed suit. He honestly didn't know another person who managed to be as big of an annoyance as that guy. It had taken Yoon surely a month longer than necessary to ask out that cute little nurse they had in school, even though he was the damn doctor there, and it was actually a miracle how the green-haired man had managed to crash every single romantic moment that arose for weeks, but he'd managed to do it.

„ _Thank you, sweetheart. I just returned home and Kija doesn't want to cook for us“_ , now there, Hak could relate, „ _and I haven't seen you in ages. How about we fetch the others, get some chinese and meet up at yours?“_ Yona threw a questioning glance at Hak – she knew he'd heard every single word – and he quickly whispered his okay, adding that it was her apartment and thus her choice, but that he was seriously starving already. She rolled her eyes, opening her mouth for a retort when Jae-ha's voice suddenly broke the quiet once again. _„Who's with you, darling? You finally get over Soo-won and find yourself a hunk?!_ “ Yona just looked at Hak wordlessly before blushing like mad as she had to think of him standing in her shower, and, oh boy, hunk didn't even begin to cover it. As if he was able to read her thoughts, the man next to her suddenly barked a laugh. „ _Oh my_ god _! Is it_ Hak _?!“_ Her mortified eyes found his as she tried to get him to shut up – in vain, he was almost laughing tears at that point.

„Well, you know, that kinda a long story, and I, uhm – “

„ _Alright, love, you're not getting out of this one – we're_ so _coming over!“_ , and before she could even think about a retort, he'd already hung up. She sighed, looking utterly exhausted after only two minutes on the phone with the green-haired man, and fell back into the cushions.

„Long story, huh? It's actually pretty short, apart from the amount of time you spent ogling me in the shower – “

„Hak!“, and, oh boy, she just suddenly threw herself at him, obviously trying to strangle him or something, and pushed him back into the seat of the sofa. Flaming red hair framed her delicate face as she glared at him, furious eyes burning into her best friend staring up at her from his position beneath her, raven hair spread in wild strands across the pillows. A choked laugh escaped him as he grabbed her wrists in one hand, mussing up her hair with the other, which only served to anger her even more.

„This is all your fault, you moron! Couldn't you have just canned it for, I don't know, one more minute?!“, fury painted her cheeks a deep shade of red, and he suddenly couldn't look away, „Now he's never gonna let me live it down!“ She struggled then, trying to break free from his gentle but firm grasp, and he answered her movements by swiftly rolling over to the left, making them both fall to the floor in the limited space between her couch and the side table. And then, half a turn later, she was to one lying beneath him with wide eyes as he pushed her hands to the hardwood next to her head with a feral grin.

„Careful, princess. Don't start a fight you have no way to win“, he murmured, icy blue eyes burning into hers as he leaned down, stopping only about five inches from her face.

She could feel his breath on her skin, violet eyes tracing the movement of his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. He was close, _too_ close; but why wasn't she pushing him away? It felt as if her body had stopped cooperating with her mind a week ago; she just couldn't help but stare at him all the time, especially when they were training in the gym and he was wearing his damn basketball shirts again, baring his strong, defined arms for the world to see.

What the hell was going on with her?!

She wanted to touch him; wanted to trace everything she'd only seen a week ago with her fingers yet, wanted to know if it was only her or if something had changed for him as well back then in the bathroom. Yona honestly couldn't remember ever having felt like this before.

Her skin got unbearably hot and then ice cold again in no time at all, her breathing stuttered, and she could hear her heat racing in her ears. She'd had her fair share of one-night-stands, so she wasn't all that inexperienced, and she knew that feeling quite well, but she honestly hadn't known she was capable of experiencing it to these dimensions.

She had to think of Jae-ha's words, then. How could she have every run after Soo-Won? A reasonable question, and one her friends obviously still asked themselves as well, thinking she still yearned for the blonde.

But she didn't see a point in trying to win somebody over, who obviously had only ever felt friendship for her; who would probably only accept her if she changed for him. Just like on monday, when she'd shoot the first arrow in years again, the only thoughts coming to mind when thinking about Soo-Won now were defiant in nature, and they had been like that for years already.

But what hit her with sudden clarity in this moment was that there actually was a person who tolerated her crazy whims; who stood up to her whenever she acted like too much of an airhead, but still supported and, if necessary, even protected her from the bottom of his heart in any situation.

The only person she knew who'd put all of his money on her, who'd just throw her over his shoulder whenever she'd worked too hard and too long for exams back in college just to put her to bed for some much needed sleep, only to then sit next to her all night to ensure she _stayed_ there. The person, who'd endured all of her rants about Soo-won, who'd threatened pushy ex-boyfriends to leave her alone, who'd always put her above any of his own relationships, making them never last all that long in turn.

The only person she knew capable of _catching an_ _arrow_ from the air without breaking a sweat.

And this person was currently leaning over her.

Slowly she lifted her hand and pushed it through Hak's dark hair, gently. His eyes went wide all of a sudden, following her every move with frantic glances. She could have sworn he had stopped breathing some time ago, but she wasn't any better off herself, if her frighteningly light head was any indikation.

„What..?“, he started, but trailed off almost instantly again. She suddenly became aware that he was kneeling between her legs, and, without thinking, she bent her leg, only to lean it lightly against his hip. The movement was absent minded, but served to rip Hak from his rigor as his eyes focussed solely on hers. Even his eyes were beautiful, god – he was killing her without even trying! Usually a light blue and half-lidded with boredom most of the time, they were clear and alert, a sharp steelblue, and all because of her.

She felt a blush rising on her cheeks, coloring them the shade of her hair, but not out of embarrassment this time, no. The sudden heat had a different cause, and Hak seemed to understand that fact too, leaning closer still. He shifted his weight to one hand, bringing the other up to her face carefully.

„Yona..“, his murmur was so soft, gaze dropping to her lips, fingertips grazing along her jaw as light as a feather, and she just couldn't _breathe_ –

_Ding-Dong_

Hak jerked back almost instantly, gaze snapping to the front door at the same time Yona's head hit the hardwood – _hard._ She hadn't even been aware of how she'd lifted her head towards him, and her cheeks burned in embarrassment. His eyes snapped back to her at her pained gasp, hand moving from her neck to the back of her head, lightly touching the sore spot.

His worried eyes found hers as he stroked her hair, trying to gather if she was seriously injured from her stunt or not, but after a moment, his hand withdrew again.

„You okay?“ The question rang deep and horse in her ears, and she didn't trust her own voice as she just nodded mumbly. Relief was palpable on his features, but that quickly changed as he seemed to grasp what would probably have happened if not for the doorbell ringing.

„Jae-ha“, he growled, getting up and stomping towards the front door. Yona sat up stiffly, gazing after him with wide eyes.

He was so damn furious right now, he couldn't even put it into words. Finally the opportunity he'd been waiting for for a week (actually, scratch that – for _years_ ) had presented itself, only for Jae-ha to pull his goddamn cockblocking skills on him _again._ Angrily he made a grab for the door handle, pulling the offending piece of wood open with entirely too much force, and if his face was dangerously expressionless, his low growl betrayed his fury.

„I've seriously had it with you, you fucking – “, he began, fully expecting his green-haired annoyance of a best friend to stand in front of him and preparing to strangle him before he could even enter the flat, only to stop short as soon as he'd looked up. „S-Soo-won? What – what are you doing here?“ His confusion was evident as his former friend's deep green eyes found his, standing in the hallway with a bouquet of roses and a defensively polite expression on his face.

„I could ask you the same thing, old friend“, he retorted, leaning his head to the side in contemplation, but his expression was cool as he lowered the flowers to his side. „If I'm not wrongly informed, this was Yona's flat, after all..“, he made it sound like a question, but Hak could clearly sense the blond man's irritation with the situation, though he tried his best to mask it.

„It still is, no worries, I'm just – “

„Hak, what are you doing? Let them in, the food is gonna go – “, she came to a stop a step behind Hak as soon as she caught a glance of the doorway. Violet eyes fixed on Soo-won for what felt like minutes without blinking, before she uselessly finished her sentence. „ – cold.“

Hak wouldn't have thought it possible for the atmosphere to turn even more confusing (and, if he was looking at Soo-won's face, passively hostile, almost) than it already was before, but as soon as the other man caught a glimpse of the redhead in her pyjamas, standing next to Hak with mussed hair and flushed skin, the air noticeable turned colder.

„Soo-won! Long time no see! How are you?“, Yona smiled at him and Hak somehow felt totally lost. Hadn't she always fallen into the blond's arms whenever she'd seen him up to now? Why the hell was she acting as if he was her great-grand-uncle or something? Hak turned to her in surprise. „Can I help you?“, she went on, seeming totally blind to the palpable confusion filling the room.

„Well, I .. I was in the neighborhood and wanted to ask you to join me for dinner?“, Soo-won murmured, no doubt wishing the almost two meter tall raven-haired man in front of him to vanish into thin air.

There was a sudden quiet, then, and Hak almost started squirming due to the awkwardness. „Jae-ha and the others will understand, princess“, he started unwillingly, throwing her a sideways glance, „we can always meet up tomorrow – “

„I'm sorry, Soo-won“, her mouth pulled into an apologetic smile and Hak's heart almost flatlined in disbelief, „the guys are gonna visit us any minute now to eat some take-out, so no.“ And then, both men's mouths almost dropped open. 'Visit us', she had said – like, visit her _and Hak_ , as if it was their shared apartment, not only hers. Hak could just hear a vessel pop in his head. „You can join us, if you want, but you don't really get along all that well with Kija, if I remember correctly..“, she left the thought unfinished, but her none-too-subtle hint met the blond loud and clear.

„Ah..“, a forced smile pulled on taunt lips as he took a step back, „all right, then I won't disrupt your party any longer. See you!“ A small wave and he turned to the staircase, but Yona's voice stopped him before he could take his second step.

„I see you've got flowers with you again – maybe you could pay Lili a visit?“ His head turned towards her slowly, and she threw him a cheeky grin. „She's always complaining about wanting to get out more often on the weekends, and that I'm too lazy to entertain her. I'm sure she'd like grabbing dinner with you, she'd had a thing for you for the longest time, now.“

Hak couldn't believe it. She wanted to set him up with Lili all of a sudden? He could see Soo-won nod curtly and vanished down the stairs, Yona waving after him and closing the door with a sigh, only to be directly confronted with his confused stare back inside.

„Hak?“, she looked at him questioningly, and when he didn't react right away, she softly shook his shoulder to get his attention. His gaze cleared immediately, unsure eyes meeting hers.

„What the hell happened just now?“, he breathed, and a knowing smile broke on her concerned face within a second, proud to have thrown the alltime-ready gym teacher for a loop for once.

She ran a hand through her hair in embarrassment, side-stepping him and moving back towards the couch. With a deep sigh, she laid all the way across the seat cushions, in the same position as before Jae-ha's call, before they had tumbled to the floor like lovesick teenagers. Her cheeks burned at the thought.

„Well, that was the second time already he showed up here and asked me out for dinner“, she explained, turning back to the TV they had all but ignored up to this point, the programme having already changed from the documentary to the news. She could feel his perplexed look even before turning back to him, and when she saw his slack-mouthed look she laughed quietly. He blushed and swallowed audibly, trying to come to terms with the recent events – to no avail.

„He's been here before? And you turned him down?“, his piercing stare settled on her as he moved over to the back of the couch as well, leaning on the backrest and looking down at her as she nodded without breaking their gaze. „Why? Wasn't his attention anything you ever dreamed of?“, he asked then, quiet all of a sudden, as if he were afraid of her answer as soon as the question actually left his mouth. But her resulting smile confused and calmed him at the same time.

„He seems to have decided that Yona from back in highschool, running after him like a lunatic, wasn't actually all that annoying after all, and now he wants to try his luck with her“, she smirked in a self-deprecating way then, „but now _I_ don't want to try my luck with her anymore, you know?“ Her laughter was a little ironic as she turned away from him once more, gazing unseeingly at the ceiling.

Hak's eyes trailed her face, tracking her every facial expression intently. He wanted her to keep talking, but couldn't bring himself to ask her to. As if reading his thoughts, her resolute face turned to him again and an honest smile spread her lips.

„I'm not the bimbo from back then anymore, Hak. I've got other things on my mind now than the question of how my hair looks today or what to wear“, her eyes flashed defiantly in the eveningsun bleeding through the window behind him. „I don't, ever, want someone to force his will on me again, and I especially don't ever want to let things that honestly please me alone just to try and impress someone.“

Hak's eyes widened in understanding.

„I know who I am, what I want to achieve – and that's not to pretend to be someone I'm so clearly not for the rest of my life just to try and be good enough for someone else, do you get what I'm saying?“

Somehow he just couldn't breathe properly right then, and he only nodded weakly, walking around the couch. Wordlessly, he lifted her legs to make space for himself to flop down, lowering her calves across his thighs afterwards.

„Nobody in their right mind would want to trade the woman from now with the girl from back then, Yona“, he murmured quietly and concentrated hard on the current piece of news flashing across the screen as he felt his cheeks slowly heat up.

He couldn't believe himself; he was acting as if he hadn't learned anything over the past ten years. All kinds of women had been coming and going over time, some rather less than more clothed, and he hadn't bat and eyelash; but now he couldn't even so much as look into Yona's direction without blushing like a damn middle schooler? Pathetic.

He was so engrossing in his own musings, he didn't notice how the woman next to him sat up before her soft lips came in contact with his cheek – and his vision turned white for a second. „Thanks, Hak.“ Wide-eyed, he turned to her, but she only laughed quietly and let herself fall back against the cushions again, turning her focus fully to the TV then, indicating that the talk was over.

And, yeah, now he was actually sure as he sat there, breathing, thinking.

She was gonna be the death of him.


	4. Liquid Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> „Perhaps you should slow down with that a little, princess“, Hak offered, warily eying as she finished her second round. Her eyes turned to slits, fixing him with a burning glare.
> 
> „Didn't seem like you minded me letting myself go just before the others showed up, Hak.“

„Pass me the rice, Droopy-Eyes.“

Jae-ha turned to Hak indignantly, already opening his mouth to no doubt hit him with a monologue about aesthetics and whatnot, in which he was surely going to include Shin-ah as the local arts teacher. The blue-haired man always had to back up Jae-ha's lame argumentation. But Yoon soon put a stop to it, rolling his eyes and passing the bowl of rice to the raven-haired man before World War Three was going to start.

„Save it, Jae-ha, no one's listening“, he teased his colleague and friend, grinning as he turned away with an irritated huff and a quick kick in Haks direction. However, his pissed mood soon lifted as an evil smirk spread on his handsome face, violet eyes flicking to Hak again with all the confidence in the world.

„Ah, now I remember – Yona, darling, why has Hak already been here when I called you?“

The chopsticks froze halfway to Yona's mouth as a hot blush spread on the small woman's cheeks, and a nervous laugh spluttered out as she tried with all her might to find any sort of explanation for the situation that didn't involve her current living situation with her best friend. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, and she knew she had to think of something, and fast, when she was rudely interrupted by said friend. And, oh boy,  _ how _ she was interrupted.

„We had sex.“  At once, six pairs of disbelieving eyes snapped to the gym teacher, who, seemingly disinterested with the whole topic, heaved another helping of noodles onto his plate without a care in the world. „Seconds, anyone?“

And all hell broke loose.

„What are you doing to Yona, you fiend?!“, Kija was the first to exclaim. Totally upset, he jumped to his feet, fully prepared to grasp Hak at the collar, but Zeno only patted his hand in a soothing motion that held him back.

„Now, now, Kija, calm down. Everybody has needs, there is nothing fiendish about it“, he reassured in that precocious tone of voice only he seemed to manage. But the calm comment served to achieve the opposite, bringing the lavender-haired man to the boiling point instantly, and his war-growl was the only warning before he threw himself on Hak, all but bowling him over.

„Hak! What the hell?! And Kija – stop it!“, Yona had finally ripped from her stupor, only to watch in slow motion as Haks plate full of curry noodles went flying with the hit, the beautiful trajectory meeting its end at the initially pristine white wall next to her TV.

„She's right, calm the hell down, White Snake!“, Hak growled from beneath the other man, trying to fend off the hand trying to close in on his throat, „What's it to you, anyway? Everybody knows about your trysts with Jae-ha, and no one gives a shit!“

All of a sudden, Kija snapped back, turning to look back at Jae-ha in horror, who only passively shrugged his shoulders. Shin-ah and Yoon shared a meaningful glance and got up, no doubt fetching a bottle of Sake from the kitchen – there was no way to endure this whole soap opera without at least a bit of alcohol.

„W-what are you trying to say, Hak?“, Kija all but hissed, breathless from either the tussle or Hak's statement, but Jae-ha only sighed, drawing the attention to himself at last.

„Well, you all knew I was bi, so, surprise, Kija also had a change of heart. Good news – we're together now!“ The music teacher smiled and took a cup from Yoon, who clinked his own little porcelain cup against Jae-ha's immediately after with a whooping 'Here, here!', immediately downing the first round of cheap Sake.

Exhausted, Yona made a grab for her own helping then. „I'm really happy for you two“, she congratulated and tipped her head back, flinching a little as the hot liquid burned down her throat, leaving behind a pleasant buzz. She knew she should have been upset about the Jackson Pollock impression now grazing her precious living room, but she couldn't find it in her to care just then. Instead, she immediately poured herself another cup, knocking it back just after as well.

„Perhaps you should slow down with that a little, princess“, Hak offered, warily eying as she finished her second round. Her eyes turned to slits, fixing him with a burning glare.

„Didn't seem like you minded me letting myself go just before the others showed up, Hak.“

He couldn't  _ believe _ how throaty her voice suddenly sounded, all rough from the alcohol and something deeper; not that much more and it would have been a moan. Who would have thought she'd start to play his own game? All of a sudden, he felt  _ really _ hot, even though a shiver ran down his spine, and his eyes widened as a knowing smirk spread on her lips.

Without another word, he took a glass as well, pouring clear liquid for himself and bringing it to his lips. With a last glance at the redhead, he threw his head back as well, letting out a pleased hum as the warmth spread in his chest immediately.

God damnit. His frustrations had already reached new heights before Soo-won had interrupted them, but now that she looked at him with – he almost couldn't believe it, but that had to be it – almost  _ lustful _ eyes, half-lidded and relaxed, he had to do everything to hold back any of his reactions.

„Don't think I forgot about our argument“, Kija hissed next to him, but settled down again when Jae-ha's hand landed comfortingly on his shoulder this time, offering him a cup of Sake as well with his other.

„Oh well, let's raise our glasses for starters, and then there'll be nothing left to argue about, alright?“, he offered grinning. Yoon and Shin-ah nodded their consent while Zeno and Yona joined in with a loud whoop. And finally, Kija relaxed and clinked glasses with his over-enthusiastic boyfriend.

And that left Hak, watching it all unfold with sceptic eyes; this spelled trouble, he just knew it.

***

And, oh boy, had he been right. Four hours and approximately six bottles later, all of his worst fears verified themselves. The only sober ones left were Shin-ah and him; Zeno had already passed out on the floor next to the couch after his third round, Kija and Jae-ha had been cuddling on the couch for entirely too long already – something he'd  _ never _ wanted to see, thank you very much – and Yoon was trying to seperate them with reddened cheeks and a dry look; obviously he didn't want to have to look at their cooing as well.

But all of that wasn't really Hak's problem, no.

His problem was sitting next to him, nestling to his left side, small hand buried deeply in his thick hair. Yes, his problem with the soft curves, with warm fingers scratching over his scalp gently, whose hot breath left boiling patches on the red skin of his neck as it murmured something or another into his ear; and he couldn't concentrate for shit.

„Alright, that's enough. The party is over, get lost, guys. Everyone go home“, he exclaimed abruptly, getting up in a flash only to immediately bend down again and catch Yona, who'd spend the last hour trying to make him lose his mind, from falling on her face now that his support was lost

Jae-ha and Kija protested loudly, but Shin-ah got up nodding, ushering the two teachers to their feet despite their whining.

„That was more than enough Sake for a Sunday evening, and we've got school tomorrow, so beat it“, Hak continued his speech and got up again, this time with Yona thrown heavily over his shoulder; he'd just about had enough, seriously. The redhead was obviously dissatisfied by being pushed around, but her weak slaps against his back were barely even noticeable to him. Her movement was washed-out and clumsy; he should have cut her off an hour ago, he cursed mentally.

Sighing, he dropped his head to his chest, suddenly feeling more tired than ever before as she kept complaining behind his back.

„Hak is right. Jae-ha, hand me your keys, I'm gonna drive you home“, Shin-ah murmured in his usual, quiet voice, and Yoon nodded, following the lovebirds to the front door. With a calm gaze, his blue-haired friend turned to Hak then, lifting a sleeping Zeno carefully in his arms. „Are you gonna be okay, Hak?“

Smiling at Shin-ah's unfounded concern, he nodded curtly. „Just have to get her to bed, that should be manageable, but thanks, Shin-ah. Take good care of those morons for me“, he pointed his head at the drunkards near the entrance, making enough noise to wake up the entire house no doubt.

Sighing, Shin-ah grinned back and left after them without another word. The door closed behind him noiselessly, and suddenly he could have heard a pin drop.

Hak turned his head over his shoulder; Yona's arms hung livelessly beneath her head, and it seemed she'd falled asleep sometime during his short talk with Shin-ah. He'd been surprised that she'd let it go so quickly, not fighting him on her treatment anymore, but this explained it. He turned back around, putting an arm around her waist and the other behind her knees as he made his way towards her bedroom with a sigh. This was just great; now he'd only have to tuck her in and he could finally hit the hay himself.

But just when he stretched out his hand to grasp the door handle, he froze in his tracks. A low snicker from behind him told him that the woman thrown over his shoulder was more awake than he thought, but the noise wasn't his only indication for that.

No. Two small hands were suddenly on his ass, after all.

„Haaaak“, another tipsy laugh ripped from her chest, and he had trouble understanding her at all. Her thick hair fell in waves around her head, dampening her hoarse voice as she pressed her face upside down against his back. „Always wan'ed to do that, Hak“, she slurred, curling her fingers without a warning, and he almost jumped ten feet in the air from shock.

Alright, status report. She wasn't knocked out, oh no, she was  _ totally _ awake, and  _ totally _ groping him.

He drew a shaky breath.

„W-what are you doing, Yona?“, he pressed, kicking himself mentally for how uneasy he sounded. He was a grown man, for god's sake, couldn't he even form a sentence without stuttering like an idiot now? „That's coming pretty close to sexual harassment, you aware, princess?“

Now that sounded more like him, he could do sarcasm, yeah. Even though he didn't feel nearly as self assured as he sounded. Couldn't she just finally remove her hands? That was Yona! He'd already had to hold back the whole evening, but now, after too much Sake and _with her hands on his ass_ _goddamnit_ it wasn't getting any easier.

„S'rry“, she murmured, loosening her grip and letting her arms dangle beneath her once again, until they came to a stop on the backs of his thighs. He sucked in a breath. „Jus' wanted to know if it feels 's good as it looks.“

Her words slurred together due to all the alcohol, but he still heard her loud and clear in the darkness of her hallway. He shook his head in a try to collect his messed-up thoughts.

„Ah, so you  _ did _ like what you saw all those years“, he retorted with much more bravado than he felt, as if he still had full control over the situation that was, in fact, rapidly slipping through his fingers. This woman was killing him.

„Yup. But I didn't wanna jus' _ see _ it“, she pouted, turning her head in the other direction, and her hair tickled on the spot on his lower back where all her movements had caused his shirt to ride up a bit. Hak grit his teeth and swallowed. It took far too much energy to relax his jaw and open the door.

„Well, at least you had something to look at, princess“, he teased sarcastically, walking towards her bed with fast steps. He only had to put her down now, and she'd fall asleep like a log. Nodding to himself, he pulled the blanket back, balancing her limp body on his shoulder as he got rid of those ridiculous cushions as well – how could she even sleep with all that stuff on her bed? He huffed, annoyed.

„Y're right, Hakuuu“, she drew his name impossibly long and raised her head, but the movement went unbeknownst to him as he still muttered about her useless decorations. „'s totally unfair, you never gotta see anythin'.“

As her words got more and more incomprehensible, he almost had to slap himself again mentally. Great. Now he had somehow gone and led her to feel goddamn guilty about seeing him naked while he hadn't seen anything of her. In this current situation, there couldn't have been anything more trivial to him than that thought, he reckoned, throwing the last pillow into a corner.

And to make it all even worse, she was squirming like mad now, too, making him grab her hips to steady her before she fell off his shoulder. He would have sworn she was trying to make him all hot and bothered on purpose, if the woman in question hadn't been  _ Yona. _ With a quick grasp, he lifted her up again and off himself, setting her down on her bed in front of him, and god, was he ready to give her a sermon.

„Listen, there are some things a girl just  _ shouldn't do _ when pressed against a guy, didn't anybody ever teach you – “

And then he got a good look at her, and all of his words got stuck in his throat.

Oh boy. Oh boy, oh boy. Either he was dreaming or he was gonna fall unconscious just about then. A quick glance over his shoulder only reaffirmed the second option: no dream. She really had pulled off her pyjama shirt upside down while lying over his shoulder, and the small pile of clothes now laid a few feet behind him on the hardwood, taunting him. His eyes shot back to her; she had laid her head to one side with interest as she studied him, leaning back on her hands on her comforter without any care in the goddamn world.

Shirtless.

Suddenly, he felt all too close to a panic attack, and his eyes went wide as the situation finally registered. In a flash he pulled his own shirt over his head.

„What the hell is  _ wrong _ with you?!“, he all but shrieked, quickly stuffing her head through the head hole of his shirt. There was no way he could even care about putting it on her properly – he just pulled the fabric straight down, not bothering with her arms, only taking utmost care not to touch her skin in any way.

Stunned, she tracked his movements as he sighed deeply afterwards and fell to his knees before her, looking totally exhausted.

And then, she sat up again, small hands gripping the seam of his shirt. Slowly, she pulled it up again and back over her head; his dark look following her gestures, tracing the increasing planes of soft-looking, creamy skin bared for him to see. From the gentle curve of her hips to her flat, smooth stomach, her ribs, up until the bottom curve of her breasts, where his gaze froze. Hak sucked in a breath, jaw clenched so tight he was almost expecting some teeth to pop out, when his traitorous eyes couldn't resist the temptation any longer and moved further upwards.

She really was beautiful.

He could see her delicate neck and sharp collarbone, could see how the distinctive lines slowly transformed to the bold curve of her breasts. Her skin looked flawless and soft, and he was sure it would feel like silk beneath his fingers, should he reach out and trace it. And, dear god, as soon as he saw her rosy nipples, hard and pointed in the cool night air, he almost panted.

„Don'tcha wanna see me too, Hak?“, she murmured, suddenly looking shy as her eyes dropped to her knees, and Hak's face turned soft.

Unbelievable. This girl, this  _ woman _ he had been friends with for longer than he could even think, seriously thought she could ever not be wanted by someone else? And this time not because of Soo-won, but because of  _ him _ ?

In one flowing gesture, he leaned forward on his knees and pulled her towards him. His right arm curled around her waist, left hand moving up to grasp thick crimson locks and bring her even closer. The feeling of her naked skin on his was incredible as their chests touched, but he couldn't afford to think about that just then.

„You're so damn dense sometimes, unbelievable“, he murmured into the strands of flamy hair as he laid his head weakly on her shoulder. „I thought you didn't want to try and impress anyone anymore?“

„M-mm“, she shook her head and moved her hands along his shoulder blades in the softest of flutters as she turned her head until her mouth was directly next to his ear, making him shiver. „Said I didn't wanna pretend to be someone else, didn't say I don' wanna impress you, Haku.“ His eyes went wide for the hundredth time and he pulled his head back to take a look at her face. Her little smile turned sheepish as she looked up at him. „With you I don't have to pretend, you're the only one who re'lly knows me.“ She closed her eyes, pressing her forehead against his. He could taste her breath on his lips as he lowered his gaze as well and exhaled.

„Why would you, princess? Been in love with you for years for all of your quirks“, he mumbled as soon as he felt her grow slack in his arms. Somehow it felt freeing to finally put it into words out loud, even though she had just fallen asleep. He wasn't going to tell her again any time soon, so he could at least try and enjoy the moment as long as it lasted.

Sighing, he got back up and snatched his shirt from the bed once again. For the second time, he carefully brought her head through the fabric and pulled it down, covering her up for good. He had to admit that it looked way better on her than on himself anyway. Probably had something to do with the ugly possessiveness rising in his chest, making him revel in the thought of her so close to something of his, or perhaps the thought of claiming her as his with it.

Well, not like he hadn't liked her way more without any shirt on at all.

He shook his head and lifted her up swiftly, only to position her properly on her bed this time, pulling her blanket from underneath her and tucking her in carefully.

Slowly he leaned over her and laid his lips against the corner of her mouth in a barely-there kiss he couldn't suppress. He didn't even want to think about her reaction next morning, if she knew about that. Chuckling quietly, he pulled back and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

„It's the other way around, princess“, he breathed, finally getting up and moving towards the door without looking back, „no one is good enough for  _ you. _ “

  
  



	5. Warm Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He looked like the cat who ate the canary, and she was just about sure that, should she look up the definition of 'suspicious' that instant, a picture of his big, fat, sleazy face would be printed right next to it.
> 
> „Hak..?“ It was only his name, but she knew without a doubt that he knew what she was asking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, here's another one, I'm on a roll, people. but it's probably gonna be some time until the next update, so I'll just apologize in advance already. there's gonna be lots of drama in this chapter, but, oh well ^^ hope you like it ~

„Rise and shine, sweetheart. It's seven o'clock, gotta be at school in an hour“, Hak's unusually chipper voice ripped her from her dreams while he was pulling off her blanket towards the foot end of the bed with totally fake enthusiasm.

A throb echoed through her head as she slowly sat up and tried to focus her eyes on her childhood friend. She reckoned she probably looked about as good as she felt right then, because not even a second later, the raven haired man guffawed and dropped down on the bed next to her feet.

„Didn't I tell you already on your 21st birthday not to drink Sake with Jae-ha? He's always drunk you under the table since they, if you haven't noticed.“

She glared at him angrily, pushing a weak hand through her hair in an attempt so smooth the wild locks back into shape.

„Terribly funny, smartass“, she stuck out her tongue in a moment of pure adulthood, making him chuckle again, „why the hell are you even dressed like that?“

Her gaze dropped lower, abandoning his too handsome face in order to study his torso. A white dress shirt fit snugly around his chest, the simple black tie adding a touch of cool understatement to his unexpectedly serious appearance. She could see a fountain pen peeking from his breast pocket; she knew it was that present of hers from seven years ago when he'd just aced the entrance exams for university, even without seeing the engraving around the shaft. Her violet eyes lowered some more, taking note – with no small amount of surprise – that he was even wearing dress pants and his most-hated leather shoes.

He looked totally relaxed, one leg thrown coolly over his other knee, seemingly taking a good look at his goddamn shoeshine. A strange picture she had never witnessed up until today; but she couldn't really say that she didn't like that business-version of Hak. Her cheeks tinted a rosy pink and she hoped dearly he'd trace that back to her huge hangover.

„Tsk, how did you survive on your own for so long, princess?“, a warm smile betrayed his exasperated tone of voice, „Parent's day, ring a bell?“

Her eyes widened in shock and in the next instant she was hopping out of bed so fast it just had to be a new world record. Confused and slightly dizzy she swayed towards her closet, ignoring how Hak got up behind her with a chuckle, no doubt ready to catch her should she fall over her own clumsy feet.

Throwing him a quick glare through the mirror on the door of her wardrobe, she teared it open with flourish and immediately started throwing clothes back over her shoulder and out of the way.

„No – no – too clam – too racy – too _yellow_ ; why the hell do I even have that, god! My hair's red, why the hell do I own a yellow dress?! – too dark – no – no“, she mumbled a mile a minute while Hak was bombarded with flying clothes.

Grinning, he tilted his head; who would have thought that his otherwise so mature and not-at-all superficial best friend could react that girly all of a sudden? She reminded him so much of her younger self from ten years ago right now, back when she still had her head in the clouds; and even though he knew that her attitude back then had been downright ridiculous, he still couldn't help but think that it was cute – yes, he really had thought 'cute' just now – to see her careless like this.

He was rudely jerked from his thoughts as the world suddenly turned black. Lifting his hand to his face, he pulled off the dress she had last thrown on him.

„Wow“, he whistled with appreciation, „didn't know you even had something that sexy.“ He grinned when she spun around and lifted the black lacy cloth by means of an explanation. „You could wear that – that way my day might not end up being as awful as I've feared.“

Blood immediately rushed to her cheeks as she ripped the fragile piece from his hands.

„Hak, you jerk! How would it look like for a teacher to show up wearing such a short dress!“ She shook her head and threw the offending piece of cloth on her bed, pulling a black ensemble with a red lacy blouse from the rack instead. „That, on the other hand, could work. Respectable, but still a bit bold.“ A broad grin stretched on her lips as she hung the coat hanger onto the closet door, hands moving to grasp the seam of her sleep shirt without a second thought.

Hak's eyes widened, mouth dropping open in shock. He could already see the scene from last night repeat itself in front of his mind's eye, and the fabric was almost level with her breasts when she finally noticed what she was doing. Her face took on a dark shade of red as she let go of the shirt – and that was the moment when she finally noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual pyjama shirt.

Confused, she gripped the fabric covering her stomach and pulled it away from herself as far as possible to get a better look, and, yep. Far too big. It was indeed Hak's. She briefly closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and noticing that it even smelled like him. A fresh scent, like lemons and rosemary and something that was just distinctly _Hak_ (she caught herself far too often wandering into the bathroom after him without even needing anything there, just to take a few breaths of his delicious fragrance, not that she'd ever admit that).

She had to physically stop herself from bringing the shirt to her face and crawling back into bed with it, never getting up again.

Her eyes opened then and she threw him a questioning look, but her eyes narrowed in suspicion as he just turned away, avoiding her gaze and nervously rubbing at his neck. He looked like the cat who ate the canary, and she was just about sure that, should she look up the definition of 'suspicious' that instant, a picture of his big, fat, sleazy face would be printed right next to it.

„Hak..?“ It was only his name, but she knew without a doubt that he knew what she was asking.

„Well“, he stammered, shifting awkwardly, and if she hadn't gotten this foreboding feeling just then, she might have thoroughly enjoyed his embarrassment, „you were drunk – once again, and I brought you to bed – once _again_ , and then you just – and I – and then you – I'm gonna go make you some coffee. Bye.“

She could only stare after him incredulously as he speed-walked out of her room, all but running to the kitchen; no doubt thinking desperately about how he was going to get out of giving her an explanation. Sighing, she grabbed her designated clothes once more and ambled to the bathroom, lost in thought.

If he thought she'd just drop it, he had another thing coming.

***

A few minutes later she joined Hak in her kitchen, thanking him as he wordlessly handed her a cup of coffee while drinking some tea of his own. His gaze, formerly glued to the newspaper on the table in front of him, immediately wandered to her outfit as soon as she entered.

Black, tasteful heels that gave her about two inches of height adorned her tiny feet, clad in black, opaque tights running up her long legs. The pitch black pencil skirt caressed her hips like a second skin, but ended chastely just about an inch above her knees, the playful, lacy trim of the crimson blouse skillfully lifting the serious aura again. A blazer the same shade as the skirt completed the business-look, just like the way she'd pulled her wild hair back into a low ponytail; obviously, she hadn't been able to tame the mess of hair any other way or she would have done it, but like this, the fiery strands really looked like flames. Her usual, long earrings caressed her neck with each of her movements and Hak – once again – had to swallow the lump in his throat.

„Alright like this?“, she asked him, twirling artistically on the tips of her shoes in demonstration. His gaze dropped to her ass in the briefest and worst lack of control, and he already knew that he'd try to walk behind her as much as possible today.

„The racy black one would've been better“, he teased, a broad grin showing his canines as she huffed irritatedly. „Just joking. You look beautiful, princess.“

Her surprised, wide eyes landed on his face again, but he'd already reverted his attention back to the newspaper, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Her gaze softened, a gentle smile pulling on her lips at that. The quiet clacking noise of her heels filled the room as she crossed the distance between them, giving the man in front of her a featherlight kiss on the cheek in thanks.

When his steely blue eyes met hers, she quickly gulped down all of her coffee and put the cup into the sink with a grin, vanishing into the living room.

Hak could only sit there and stare after her with an open mouth as her head poked back in once again. His jaw snapped shut in embarrassment so fast he'd probably spit out some teeth later on when her eyes found his. „Oh right – and don't even think I've forgotten about the shirt, Hak. You still owe me an explanation, _mister._ “

He sat up straight and was just about to find another excuse, when he saw the clock out of the corner of his eye. _Save._ „Oh, with pleasure, _darling_ , but right now we sadly have to move it.“ His satisfied smirk was only met with another eyeroll of hers, but she nodded nonetheless, walking back to her room to fetch her bag.

Hak was waiting in the hallway as she walked back out, hands stuck lazily into his pockets and looking like a goddamn Armani model; not that she'd ever tell him. His ego was bad enough. Grinning, he held the front door open for her, as if he knew what she was thinking, and she quickly stepped past him with rosy cheeks.

„Think you're gonna take long today?“, his deep voice jerked her from her thoughts when she stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at him. She had all but emptied her closet in search of her spare key last week already, but after hours upon hours of search she'd had to admit defeat, as there had still been no trace of it. He'd only met it with fake sadness, telling her that it wasn't 'too bad' for him to have to drive home with her all the time. He didn't have to tell her how he looked forward to that event every day, actually.

„Well, that depends..“, at her hesitant tone of voice and unsure glance to the side, all jokes left him and his smile made room for a questioning frown.

„And on what, exactly?“, if his face was anything to go by, she should probably answer him honestly, but she still moved from foot to foot in indecision, scraping the tip of her shoe on the floor like a nervous kid. „Yona.“ Her eyes found his and her heart started to pound all of a sudden when she saw his now concerned face. Sighing, she straightened up again.

„On whether or not Kye-sook and his parents are going to be a problem.“ She scratched the back of her head in embarrassment and made to move towards the exit finally.

But the quick steps coming after her along with a hand on her elbow made her stop in her tracks again.

„Kye-sook? The guy who threatened you at the bar last term?“, she couldn't look him in the eyes. His anger pitch was rising, and she could feel it along with his hand tightening on her arm. But it didn't hurt; even when he lost himself for a moment, he was never even the least bit rough with her. „He's a _student_?“

She exhaled and lifted her gaze to finally meet his. „Seems I got him into trouble at home“, her face twisted a little, and she couldn't hold his glare, looking away again. „He was barely at school at all, and if he was, he was totally unprepared and rude. So i wrote to his parents. The weekend after, I ran into him when we went out drinking with the guys.“

Hak clenched his teeth in anger. He remembered. She'd only wanted to quickly use the restrooms, but then vanished for twenty minutes. Everybody had been worried, and Jae-ha had gone after her finally, only to come back with her not too long after, and arm slung over her shaking form as her fingers traced big, violet bruises along her upper arms that hadn't been there minutes before. He'd run up to her immediately, cradling her head in his hands before taking her home, where she finally told him about the guy crowding her in the hallway. She'd only mentioned the name, and he'd thought that sick guy had told her just for the hell of it, but when she insisted that he should just drop it, he'd let it go against his better judgement.

His hands balled into fists when he thought about it.

That guy had been a fucking _student_?

Pissed off, he quickly jerked his hand back. She tried to find his gaze, but his hair blocked her sight. „I can't believe it. Some guy frightens the shit outta you in our goddamn bar – and you can't seem to manage to somehow mention that you _knew_ him?“ Now his burning eyes snapped to her and sucked her into the storm raging within them as she drew a sharp breath. „You can't seem to tell me that you have to sit in a fucking _class_ with him every other day?!“

She jumped at his words. He rarely ever cursed, just like her; probably a thing about their profession. But now he all but exploded in front of her. She honestly couldn't remember ever having seen him that wound up before, and she really hoped she'd never have to see his rage directed at her again after this. She made a move to touch his shoulder, but he just stepped back out of reach, and a stabbing pain rushed through her chest, making her pull it back again to press her hand to her heart.

He exhaled shakily and stood motionless before her for another few seconds. Thank god no one else had decided to pass them by in the meantime, because the aura of the man in front of her radiated angry, black waves.

„..I'm .. I'm sorry. I didn't want to scare you, I – “, he ran a hand through his hair uneasily and swallowed, „ – I'm just – “, he broke off again and buried his face in his hands for a moment.

Her eyes got wet as she watched him standing before her, and without a second thought, she crossed the gap between them and slung her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Stunned, he looked down on the redhead; her little hands clawing into the back of his dress shirt. Sighing, he closed his eyes and dropped his head.

„ – I'm just scared shitless that something might happen to you“, he admitted and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, laying his head on hers weakly.

Her embrace tightened. „I'm sorry, Hak. I should have told you, but I didn't want you to worry. I have to finally take care of myself, you know? I don't want to always depend on you with everything.“

His fingers played with her hair thoughtlessly. „But you _can_ always depend on me. I won't let anyone harm you, but to do it, I have to _know_ about that stuff, Yona.“ At the sound of her name spoken in that deep, hoarse voice of his, she had to suppress a shiver. „Promise you'll tell me immediately if anything goes wrong, okay?“

He felt her nod against his chest and heaved a relieved breath. A dull smile pulled on his lips then. „Alright. But now we really should get going, or you won't be able to talk to anyone today.“ Grinning, he tousled her hair and ran for the door when she yelped in protest, trying her hardest to rearrange the strands.

***

„Alright, guys. Let's stop here for today so we can tidy up a bit before your parents are coming.“ A few whoops of joy rang through the classroom and Yona ducked her head to hide her smile from her students. „So, please – everyone pick up all the paper snippets on the floor and throw them away, and then you're free to go.“

More motivated at the promise of calling it a day earlier than usual, her students hurried to bring everything back to order. She cocked a brow in surprise. Huh. Who would have thought it was gonna be that easy to motivate her seniors for cleaning duty?

„Hey, Hiryuu-san“, a voice to her right snapped her from her musings, making her turn around.

„Abarai“, her eyebrow lifted even higher, then, as she looked up at the much larger young man in front of her. „How can I help you?“

He quickly set his backpack on her desk, only to push his arms tightly to his sides and jerk forward into a deep bow. Stunned, she gazed down at his cherry-red hair; the only thing she could see from him in this position. Quickly, she turned around, making sure none of her other students saw what was happening. Deeply embarrassed, she put a hand on his shoulder, making him straighten up again.

„I haven't been able to apologize about that stunt back in the gym last week“, he was towering over her again, opening and closing his mouth as if lost in thought. „Well, at least not to you, even though you probably got angrier than Hak.“ He ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. „So, here goes nothing: I'm really sorry, Hiryuu-san, it won't happen again.“

Her stunned expression turned soft immediately, and a slow grin spread on her lips. Pushing her blazer back to her elbows, she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

„No worries, Abarai. To be honest, the one who should probably apologize is me, I guess. I don't know what I was thinking, throwing a student over my shoulder like that“, the grimaced, face palming when Renji chuckled good-naturedly. „I'm sorry as well, Renji.“ With a pained grin, she glanced at him, but he only waved his hand, dismissing her concerns and walking towards the door where Kurosaki was already waiting for him.

His teeth flashed in the light as he threw her a feral grin. „Don't be, that was hot.“

And before the startled chuckle could even leave her throat, he was gone, leaving her alone in the classroom. She leaned back against her desk, finally taking a deep breath. If she were able to get along that well with all of her students, she probably wouldn't have any problems in life. On the other hand, all that inappropriate flirting throughout the day would be infuriating as well, she thought, chuckling quietly and turning to grab her notepad from her bag.

„What's so funny, Hiryuu-san?“

From shock, her whole bag went flying and the contents clattered all over the floor. Her eyes snapped in the direction of the icy voice, and she jerked back when she noticed how close its source was.

„K-Kye-sook, you startled me“, lifting a shaking hand to her chest, she walked around her desk, trying to get a bit of much-needed distance from her student standing in the middle of the classroom. „I didn't hear you coming.“

Her gaze dropped to her paraphernalia lying beneath the blackboard, before snapping back to the boy. At the thought of bending down and dropping into such a vulnerable position in order to gather her stuff before him, she grimaced, making the teen grin coldly, as if he knew what she was thinking about.

A shudder ran down her spine. This boy really was creepy. She didn't want to report him back then, because she had been sure he'd just had too much to drink – also not really that awe-inspiring at that age, but he was almost eighteen after all – and didn't mean any actual harm with his actions when he pushed her against the wall in anger. But now that he was sober and standing in front of her in the light of day, she had to admit she felt fear rush down her spine. It was as if an icy hand caught a hold of her heart and stole her breath, and she had to use all her power to not allow her legs to give out.

Cold sweat gathered on her neck as her eyes followed him when he suddenly bent down and started to collect her things without a care in the world. Her purse, some lipstick she never used, followed by a small flacon, and she took a step back against her will when she saw him lift the perfume up to his face and take a deep breath with closed eyes. And then he gathered up the last item – her keys with a laminated picture charm featuring Hak and herself, and her heart almost stopped when she saw him smile at it.

Slowly, he got up again, offering his full hands to her so she could store everything back in her bag. She briefly wondered if she should just make a run for it, but that was idiotic, wasn't it? He hadn't even done anything, on the contrary, he was acting nothing but civil. She couldn't accuse him for suddenly _helping_ her, could she? Her breath came out in tiny pants, but she swallowed her apprehension and offered her palms to accept the items from him. Her eyes didn't leave his as she made a grab for the lining in her bag, quickly shoving the purse and make-up back where they belonged.

She was just reaching out towards the keychain and her perfume, however, when her wrist was suddenly caught in an iron grip. Jerking forward with the tug in order not to lose her footing, her wide eyes met his, and she suddenly knew her worries hadn't been unfounded after all. She tried to rip her hand back, but his grip only hardened as he suddenly got in her face, making her snap her head back in panic.

„No worries, teach. I don't want anything from you.. at least, not like _that_ “, his grin looked like a grimace, and a chill rushed over her like a wave. „I thought I'd already made you see my point months ago, but, obviously, I've been wrong about that.“ His nails dug into the soft skin on her wrists and she grit her teeth against the pain, not wanting to let him see. „So I'll say it directly this time - I want you to just keep your damn mouth shut with my father tonight. I'm only here because I've got no other choice yet, but as soon as I'm eighteen, I'm outta here, so just leave me _alone._ “

Her eyes widened, and all of her fear vanished when she finally got what was happening. Incredulous, she stared back into his violet, stormy eyes, and suddenly she had to work to keep in the disbelieving laugh threatening to bubble from her chest. He seriously wanted to daunt her until she did what he told her to? Did he even stop to think about his own position? Did he seriously think this was going to get him anywhere?

Defiantly, she lifted her chin, imagining looking down on him instead, even though he was towering almost a head over her. _Still nothing compared to Hak_ , she thought and brought her head even closer to his, feeling instant satisfaction at the widening of his eyes.

„Listen, kid: if you think you can just walk in here and dictate what I gotta do, even though you messed all of this up by yourself, you're out of your mind.“

A low growl left his throat at that, and she suddenly knew that she was going to be sorry for her brief trace of bravery. Kye-sook pushed her back towards the blackboard, then, and the numb, icy fear from before was back in an instant as she stared wide-eyed at the angry face of her student.

„Hey, princess! Abarai left his backpack again and I thought – “

Before she could even process that it was in fact Hak's voice she had just heard, he was already standing next to her, wrapping Kye-sook's wrist in an iron grip not unlike the one he'd held hers in just moments before. She looked up at the face of her best friend in surprise, finding a fake-friendly smile so terrifying, she wasn't sure Kye-sook was going to get out of this room with his head attached.

„My, my – Kye-sook, am I right?“, his grin widened, turning even more blood-thirsty, and his eyes wrinkled in a show of feigned friendliness. The younger man tried to jerk his hand out of Hak's grip then, but his attempts were ridiculous at best. „I know she's cute – I can barely hold back myself – but where would we end up if everybody just went ahead and touched her as they pleased?“ A quiet snap echoed in the room, and Kye-sook winced in pain as the gym teacher's fingers closed tighter around him, making his bones groan under the pressure.

Wide-eyed, he jerked back as Hak leant down to his eye-level, the friendly smile leaving his face once and for all. „Another stunt like that and I swear to god you'll rue the fucking day you were born.“

In one fluent motion he twisted Kye-sook's wrist behind his back and with a swinging push, he shoved the distressed student forwards, making him stumble until he finally found his footing again. In a flash he spun around again, fixing Hak with wide eyes as he cradled his sore wrist to his chest.

But the fake smile was back, and with the best impression of fake enthusiasm Yona had ever seen, the older man even waved. „You should _really_ get going now, dude; my patience has never been so _fucking_ strained in my life, believe me.“ His steely blue eyes flashed with wordless rage, and Kye-sook didn't have to be told twice. Grabbing his backpack with quick hands, he all but ran out of the classroom, finally allowing Yona to breathe in peace.

A low sigh fell from Hak's lips and the tension visibly left his shoulders. Slowly, he turned around to face her, smiling at her wide eyes and open mouth. He stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her and leaned down until his head rested on her shoulder, and breathed in her sweet scent, feeling himself calm down again.

„I want to kill him“, he murmured against her neck, and she drew a shaky breath, still stiff in his embrace. „Who the hell does he think he is?“ Angrily, his arms tightened around her, and she was finally jerked from her reverie, bringing her arms up around his broad shoulders as she dropped her head weakly against his chest. His heart beat fast – almost as fast as hers – but she wasn't sure if hers was still racing against her ribs from fear of Kye-sook or from Hak's sudden proximity.

„Thank you“, she turned her head, lifting up onto her toes, but only managing to reach his neck, where she pressed her lips in a barely-there kiss. He smelled so damn deliciously of rosemary and lemons again, must have hopped into the shower after his classes or something. His breath hitched at her touch. „I'd probably be in pretty much trouble right now without you. What are you even doing here?“ Slowly she started to pull back and glanced up into his smothering eyes.

„I asked Ichigo and Renji to help me clean the gym today last week“, he shook his head irritatedly and pushed a hand through his hair, „but Abarai just had to go and leave his backpack here in class again – seriously, guy totally loses his head around you. I'd be worried if he wasn't such a moron.“ He rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face was fond as he lifted said backpack from Yona's desk and swung it over one shoulder coolly. „I wanted to check in on you, anyway, so I left them to do some work and came here – not my worst choice, I see.“ His face turned serious again and a hand lifted to carefully touch her cheek, making her blush instantly. „You okay, princess?“

Her eyes closed as an honest smile spread on her face. Her hand moved up to cover his on her jaw, and his eyes went wide. „Yes, I'm good. As long as you're there, there's just nothing ever gonna happen to me, I guess.“ Her eyes opened and she grinned at him as his own cheeks grew hot. „But someday I'll save you, too, Hak, I swear.“

Startled, he watched as she grabbed her bag and jacket and moved towards the door. With a cheeky grin she turned back to him.

„Oh, right, and: who said you had to hold back?“, she asked, and he looked at her in confusion for a moment before his jaw almost touched the floor in shock as he realized she meant his statement with Kye-sook before. „If you were standing in front of me, shirtless and all, I don't think I'd show as much self-restraint as you did, Hak“, her grin turned feral, and then she was gone.

He stood alone in the classroom, cheeks slowly but surely coloring a rich purple as he weakly leant back against her desk, covering his mouth and jaw with his hand in shock.

She remembered what she had done yesterday?

How she had ended up in his shirt?

And, even more interesting – she didn't _regret_ it?

He was ripped from his X-rated thoughts when Abarai suddenly showed up at the door, breathless from his run. „Are you coming? What the hell are you doing, standing around like that? You'd better come and help us“, he ranted on, and Hak could only nod weakly and follow him back to the gym, his head in the clouds.


	6. Pretty Women

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> „I was asking if the job is strenuous? All this hard work, day in, day out – I'm getting dizzy just looking at all of your muscles!“
> 
> A short laugh bubbled from his chest as he stared at the woman in amusement. „Are you, now?“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little tough love from Lili, some Kye-sook drama and an opportunity for Yona to finally save Hak for once? well, I went a little overboard there...
> 
> hope you enjoy it, anyway ~

Still grinning, Yona all but floated back into the deserted faculty room, two to-go styrofoam cups cradled carefully against her chest. The only person tapping away on their computer with a deeply annoyed expression just turned out to be the one she was looking for.

„Hey, Lili. You good?“ She had to laugh loudly at the yearning look on her friend's face at the prospect of the hot liquid in her hands.

„Oh, please – please, please, _please_ – tell me that's coffee you got there!“, she whined, and before the redhead could even protest, she had already ripped one of the cups from her hand and took a huge gulp, only to sigh in satisfaction and bury deeper into her chair. Yona really was her lifeline; if that stupid computer was going to crash one more time before she was able to store her data, she was going to just open the window and take a look at how good that shit was going to _fly._ From the fourth floor.

„The class register again?“, a tired nod proved to be her only answer as Yona knowingly dropped onto the chair directly next to the raven-haired woman. „Gotta talk about that with Geau-tae sometime soon; I don't think there's anyone left of the staff who hasn't had that problem at least once before.“

„True story. It wouldn't be that much of a problem, anyway – but today of all days..? The parents are gonna come soon, and if I can't even review the attendance sheets anymore I can hardly complain about their kids skipping school, can I?“ She dropped her head onto the keyboard in defeat, totally ignoring the jumbled mess of characters appearing on the opened empty document on her desktop. Yona patted her shoulder with compassion, but when the other woman's flashing eyes suddenly snapped to her, she pulled her hand back, stunned.

„And anyway – what's up with you? You've been whining about Kye-sook and his parents all week - even went to Geun-tae to talk it all over once again - and today? On the day of truth? You just skip in here and grin like a madwoman.“ Sheepishly, Yona glanced to the side. „Your good mood is getting on my nerves, girl. What's up? No – let me guess: Hak's finally kissed you?“

Yona's eyes went wide and her head snapped back to the other teacher, cheeks blazing red. „Wh-what are you talking about? Nobody kissed anybody, and, what do you mean, 'finally'?“

„Oh, come _on_ “, Lili propped herself up on her desk now, using the wooden surface to push back on her rolling chair and glide towards the filing cabinet storing all her lost data in the printed version. „You've been wanting to get into his pants for years, and now you're even living together. It's only a question of time until something happens.“ She whooped in victory as she pulled out the file she'd been looking for, studied it for a minute, and then huffed in dissatisfaction before throwing it to the side and opening another drawer.

In the meantime, Yona's head snapped in every direction to make sure nobody was near enough to hear them, before finally turning to the younger woman, exasperated. „What the – for _years_? What are you talking about?“

Huffing again, Lili pushed the drawer shut – this time with more force than necessary – and turned to face Yona directly, holding her gaze with flashing eyes.

„You've managed to scare off every single boyfriend you snatched since highschool, and the reason was always somehow related to Hak!“ Yona opened her mouth to argue, but Lili just lifted her hand, indicating for her to keep silent. „That one guy who ran after you for months. What's-his-face.. Kan Tae Jun or something? – “, a shudder went down Yona's spine at the mere thought of him, „He didn't get along with Hak, so you didn't even give him a chance! And then that other one, Mi-hon; you said he was 'too small'. Shan-wu? He was too lanky. Chang too docile. Jon-da too polite – say, do you perhaps see a trend?“

Annoyed with Lili's antics, Yona lifted her chin defiantly. „Your point? Not my fault I just like tall men more than those who are my own height. And it's not like you haven't got a thing for ripped guys as well, Lili.“

„That's not the _issue_ ! Every single thing you mentioned them lacking was a characteristic of Hak's! You don't want a guy who always agrees with you on everything, you also don't care for plain-old nice guys – you want someone who's only nice to _you._ You want someone who doesn't just take shit from anybody, who's got no qualms about going head-to-head with you if need be. Someone who enjoys teasing you, who only shows his true colors with you and doesn't care about all the other extras out there. And, oh, _besides_ all of that, he has to be tall, strong, muscled – like, do I even have to keep _talking_?“

Yona's mouth dropped shut all of a sudden when Lili's words slowly registered. Sighing, the other woman got up and started packing up her things.

„Sadly, I have to get going now – the first batch of parents is probably already here. But we'll talk later! I'm seriously starting to feel sorry for Hak. Someone's gotta join his club on this or this whole thing is never going to get anywhere!“ And without turning around one more time, the black-haired teacher left the room, leaving her friend there, lost for words.

***

„I'm sorry to have to say this, but as it is, Kye-sook might not be able to graduate at this rate. His attendance is rare, and if he is in school, his answers when asked a question are rude at best. Some of my colleagues share my observations, and if he does not change his ways quickly, we have no other choice but to fail him.“ Yona's steady gaze fell on Kye-sook's parents then, totally ignoring the look of the boy himself, burning with anger.

The small woman in front of her, who hadn't really participated in the talk so far and most probably wasn't going to either, jumped nervously in her seat and threw a worried glance at her husband. She was beautiful, and Yona had a hard time averting her gaze; so she was rather dumbfounded by her obviously lacking confidence. But her surprise slowly ebbed away when she noticed the tall, broad man – her total opposite – clench his hands in fury.

„Of course. It would really be a surprise if this piece of shit came around for once.“ All parties flinched at his choice of words, and Yona frowned when the beautiful woman just seemed to get even smaller and Kye-sook averted his gaze to the side with a huff.

„I .. Well, it's not that dramatic. He's really intelligent, at least as far as I was able to assess him, and if he'd just put in a little effort – “, her sentence, just like the obviously interested look her student was throwing her, got interrupted when the man suddenly jumped to his feet.

„You don't have to defend him, Hiryuu-san. I've been aware of the problem and I'll take care of it. I'm sorry for the trouble. Mi-jun, Kye-sook, we're going.“

Yona could only stare after the man with an open mouth as his wife struggled to run after him, only briefly turning around to bow politely to her before leaving the room as well. She was left alone with her student, sitting in front of her with his hands clenched to fists on his knees and his gaze trained on the floor, not even making an attempt at leaving the classroom.

„Kye-sook, I – I had to tell him about your progress, but your father – his reaction just now – do you – “

„You're wasting your breath“, he finally said as he got up, training cool eyes on her. „I'm aware of what you have to do, but that doesn't help me for shit, anyway.“ A humorless laugh ubbled from his throat as he walked to the door. „You don't know the first thing.“

Stunned, she sat at her desk looking after him, completely floored by what she had just witnessed. She knew the expression his mother wore, knew Kye-sook's look as well; and the thing it reminded her of had her squirming in her seat, quickly making notes about visiting Zeno as soon as possible. If anyone was able to lend her a hand, it was the tiny school psychologist. They had been talking about her student already not even two hours ago with Geun-tae during her break where she informed them about the latest happenings in class Hak had been involved it; and when she told them she didn't want to report him before knowing his whole situation, Zeno promised to meet up with her tomorrow.

However, the blond had left immediately after their meeting, so this had to wait until tomorrow.

She threw a quick glance at the clock. _Half past six._ Nobody would be coming anymore today, and she was starving. Quickly fetching her things, she turned off the lights and left the classroom, locking the door behind her. She'd never admit it, but she couldn't wait to see Hak again. She was just too curious about his reaction, now that he knew that _she_ knew what had happened yesterday. Grinning, she stepped into the changing rooms leading to the gym. She was just about to call out to him, seeing as all of her other colleagues had left already, when another voice ringing through the room left her mute.

„Is this really necessary, Hak-sama?“, a sickly sweet voice met her ears, and Yona quickly pressed against the wall next to the entrance to avoid being seen. _Hak-sama? What the hell.._

„Yup. Sorry, but it scratches the wood. You can leave your shoes by the wall, but no heels in the gym“, his bored voice rang around her, and Yona had to grin, imagining his annoyed look. As if; he always let _her_ come in with her heels on, he was just being difficult and impolite for fun right now. Blood rushed to her cheeks when Lili's words flashed through her mind at that: _'You don't care for plain-old nice guys – you want someone who's only nice to you.“_ Quickly, she pressed her hand to her mouth to keep from squealing like a little girl in shock. Well, Lili had a point there...

„Oh, it's not a problem“, Yona couldn't even see the woman, but her girlish, flirty way of talking got on her nerves instantly. „Should I take off my jacket as well..?“ Her eyes widened and before she could second-guess it, she'd already leaned around the door to take a look at that wench. What the hell was she doing – openly hitting on him like that, at a parent-teacher conference for god's sake! Just doing the math she had to be at least ten years his senior. Yona clenched her teeth and glared at the tall, blonde, slender woman standing with her back to her and hiding Hak from her sight.

„Not gonna be necessary, we're just about finished.“ Relief flooded Yona at his tired tone of voice, and she straightened up again, pushing back against the wall next to the door again to stay hidden. So that woman wasn't only grating on her own nerves. Good. „I have to admit I'm a bit stunned, though. Usually, not many people find their way to me. P.E.'s usually not the subject you fail at.“

„My, my! But I appreciate all the hard work you do, Hak-sama!“ There she goes again – what the hell was going on with the _Hak-sama_? Slowly, Yona was getting indignant. „I'm always trying to motivate my son to be more active. It's so important to stay fit and flexible, after all, right?“ Now Yona's jaw almost touched the floor, and she quickly stuck her head through the door once more to throw a disbelieving look at the mother – but this time, she had a clear view of Hak, who had moved further away during their talk. Just like he had of her.

His eyes widened briefly, just like hers as soon as she noticed she had blown her cover, and he obviously had to do his best to train his attention on the person in front of him again. Begrudgingly, he turned his head back to the blonde who was looking at him expectantly; she'd probably asked some unnecessary questions again, but he honestly had no idea what she'd said as his eyes fixed on her again.

„Uhm.. sorry, what was that?“

If she was offended by his lack of attention, she wasn't showing it. Instead, a broad smile stretched on her face, brown eyes flashing playfully. _Unattractive._ He'd never know where all the single mothers got the idea of hitting on the gym teacher, and this coquettish behaviour seriously just didn't do it for him.

„I was asking if the job is strenuous? All this hard work, day in, day out – I'm getting dizzy just looking at all of your muscles!“

A short laugh bubbled from his chest as he stared at the woman in amusement. „Are you, now?“ He honestly didn't have anything more to add to that, and his gaze swept to the side again, catching a last glimpse of the redhead before she snuck around the corner once more. A grin spread on his face; how goddamn grown-up she was, hiding from them like a small girl. And this discontent, annoyed look – she was _jealous,_ and he couldn't even begin to grasp just how much _that_ single fact did it for him. Smirking, he jerked his head in her direction in a barely noticeable movement; if she was already standing around there, she might as well help him get out of this. Her eyes went wide when she understood, and immediately, she vanished behind the corner again.

His eyes rolled towards the ceiling. This woman was driving him crazy. Well, he was sure she hadn't left yet – she was too curious for that. A smile pulled on his lips; oh, she'd come out alright if he teased her a little.

„Oh, you know, it _is_ grueling“, he barely managed to hold back a laugh as Yona's head appeared in the doorway again in a flash, throwing him a punishing glare. _'Grueling'? Did he have a dictionary for breakfast or something?_ „I often yearn for a relaxing massage for my poor, tense muscles“, at this, he lifted his arm in his skintight dress shirt, grabbing his bicep as if to make a point. The woman in front of him hummed quietly in appreciation and followed his every move with cunning eyes, but his eyes swept back to Yona, who was suddenly standing fully visible in the doorway, hands on her hips in annoyance. „But the possibilities of getting rid of all this tension on you own are just _so_ limited, you know?“ A victorious grin spread on his face as Yona finally made her way towards them.

As soon as the woman heard the clacking of Yona's heels, she spun around, obviously irritated at the interruption. „We're still talking, miss“, she immediately tried to get rid of her, „and this is confidential. Also – no heels in the gym.“ Yona could only fix her with a disbelieving stare as Hak couldn't keep in his low chuckles. Both women turned to him, then, the unspoken question of what the hell was so funny perhaps the only thing they'd ever have in common. He pressed a hand against his mouth, motioning quickly with the other for them to just ignore him.

„Well, I'm a teacher here. Hiryuu Yona, history. I'm well aware of the rules around here, so I'll keep my heels on, thank you very much.“ Her fake smile made Hak smile behind his hand. She was always so obliging to everyone; it was refreshing to see her flex her claws for once. „I'd been hoping you'd visit me today, Kwon-san. Kihon is your son, am I right?“ Grumbling something under her breath, the blonde woman turned away and nodded. „Well, there's always office hours. Just pay me a visit sometime, Kwon-san“, and, oh boy, Yona's grin only got bigger as the woman sighed in defeat and nodded her consent.

„Absolutely, thank you so much“, the blonde all but grit, „If those were your only concerns, you can call it a day without worries.“ With the woman's flowing gesture to the door, Yona's eyes narrowed. Was she seriously trying to get rid of her like this? Who the hell did that wench think she was? Fury flashed in her eyes, and her anger pitch only rose when she turned to Hak to see his so openly amused smile.

„Oh, but of course“, she addressed Hak directly, who suddenly seemed a little more interested in the situation, „I just wanted to ask what you wanted for dinner, _darling._ “ His eyes went wide. Was she really..? „I can run to the shop quickly while you finish up here, and then we can go home, alright?“

Yona almost had to laugh when she saw the disturbed look on the blonde's face from the corner of her eye. _This is what you get from throwing yourself at Hak, bitch._ Her cheeks flushed bright red; she really was stupidly jealous, and Lili's words from before didn't help at all.

„Oh.. carpooling? That's so nice!“, the woman threw Hak an uneasy look, who was really busy trying to swallow down all the unwanted feelings at Yona's words. He was still opening his mouth to form a response when Yona interrupted him again.

„Kind of“, her smile turned honest all of a sudden, „we just moved in together, you know?“

 _This little …_ A warm smile painted his face now as well when he saw Yona grinning at the other woman in victory. Oh, she'd surely been waiting for an opportunity to rub that in from the beginning – and her deeply satisfied face just then only confirmed his assumptions. But she wasn't finished. „Ah, right. You got a backache again, Hak? I'll draw you a bath when we get home.“ A small, playful smirk, and then she was suddenly in front of him, laying her fingers demonstratively on his bicep, just as he'd done before, „Once your muscles are all warm and relaxed, it's easier to rub them.“

And then, as if she wasn't killing him already, she stood up on her tippy-toes, only reaching his collarbone once again and touching her lips against his skin there in the briefest of kisses. Honestly, he had never in his life been that happy about leaving the first two buttons of his dress shirt open. With wide eyes, he followed her movement, totally forgetting about the other woman still standing in the gym with them, and his mouth dropped open as his mind emptied of all thoughts. And then she pulled away, turning skillfully on her heels as if to further tease the blonde for taking her shoes off in the first place, and marching towards the door.

But then his fingers wrapped around her upper arm, pulling her back against his chest, and with one short look at his face, she already knew she was in so much trouble.

„Oh, was that supposed to be a good-bye kiss?“, his fingers slid down her arm until they wound around hers, pulling her even closer. „Why so shy? We're all adults here..“

She barely had the time to notice the shocked inhale of Kwon-san behind her before soft, incredible lips suddenly were on hers; featherlight, barely-there – but she felt as if she had burst in flames when his hand stroked her cheek gently.

And as soon as it started, it was over already; but as she was standing in front of him, half-lidded eyes and looking at the gentle smile of her best friend, she knew with sudden clarity that Lili had been completely right all along – she'd been waiting for this for _years._

„Still got some take-out in the fridge. See you at the car, love.“

His deep, hoarse voice ripped her from her thoughts, and she could only nod wordlessly as she turned around and left the gym with slow steps. She barely made it to the changing rooms, where she stopped and dropped onto one of the benches weakly. Her hand shot up to her mouth, finger softly stroking over her still-warm lips. Had he really..?

She shook her head to clear the fog his sudden proximity had induced. 'I love him.' Tears shot to her eyes as she was finally able to admit it, even if only to herself in the darkness of the changing rooms. But what was she supposed to do now? What if he only took the opportunity to get rid of that wench once and for all? Quickly brushing her fingers across her wet eyes, she took a deep breath. No matter what – she at least had to tell him how she felt. Then the ball would be in his court.

Nodding to herself, she stood on shaky knees and left the sports wing to make her way to the parking lot. She'd have about ten minutes, she reckoned, to somehow get her shit together before Hak would join her again; but she already knew she wouldn't be able to start that discussion today. She was too agitated, too nervous – she wouldn't even know where the hell to start. Her hand shakily brushed through her hair in thought; somehow, she hoped he was going to make the first move after this.

***

„I – I didn't know you were in a relationship“, Kwon-san stuttered – finally, he had a name to connect to those godawful cheetah print leggings – and slipped into her heels again. She'd obviously gotten the message that he'd only made a joke at her expense. „And with Hiryuu-san, of all people..“

At that, though, she had his attention once again, and his unblinking gaze snapped to her instantly. However, she didn't notice him tensing; instead, she seemed to enjoy his change in behaviour, obviously mistaking his annoyance as a sign of interest. „How may I understand that, Kwon-san?“

„Well, I'd have imagined the woman at your side to be.. different, you know? Somehow.. more extraordinary?“, she took a step towards him and grasped his upper arm as well now – and he was just about ready to growl. Seriously, why did women think he'd like nothing more than to be felt up all day long?

„The extraordinariness lies in the fact that only _she_ has my permission to touch me“, his gaze met hers, and finally, she seemed to understand that she'd crossed a line half an hour ago. Her eyes widened when he leant down to her eye-level. „I'm at the end of my tether. If there's nothing important left to discuss – your _son_ , for example – _take your hands off._ “

And as if struck by lightning, she immediately let go and stepped back. He straightened up to full height again and turned towards the benches at the edge of the gym, fetching his bag and jacket.

„Nice. There's the exit.“ Gesturing to the entrance of the gym, he turned to her for the last time. „Have a nice evening, Kwon-san.“ He could barely make out her nod as she quickly made her way out of the building, leaving him – finally – alone.

Sighing, he threw his head back and stared unseeing at the ceiling. What the hell had he been thinking? Granted, it was obvious now that Yona wasn't hung up on Soo-won anymore, and for quite some time as well, but apart from her obvious reactions to his body she'd never shown him any interest whatsoever. And he, like the idiot he was, didn't have anything better to do than to kiss her just like that – in front of an audience, no less.

Shaking his head, he locked up and made his way to his car. The only thing he knew for certain was that he wasn't going to apologize. If she had a problem with the kiss, he'd promise her to never do it again; but he couldn't feel sorry for doing it if his life depended on it.


	7. Helping Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> „I – I'm not sure I got that right, Yona. You – you what?“ Jae-ha leaded forward in his seat, almost hanging over the piano at this point, waiting for her answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I honestly got nothing going on plotwise, so at this point I'm just trying to make them dance around each other a little longer... '^^ this is awful, but whatever. hope you enjoy the read anyway <3

Okay, he'd fucked up. Majorly.

It took an unreal amount of restraint not to beat his head against the steering wheel; a kind of necessary effort, seeing as he was still driving. But after the last ten minutes of tense silence he just couldn't think of anything better to do to distract him from his own goddamn stupidity. Should he mention the kiss? She hadn't said a word so far, so she was probably equally shaken as he was himself, but he had no idea if she might still want to talk about it.

A deep sigh left his lips as he glanced at the young woman in the seat next to his who managed to throw him for a loop like no other girl before. With the half hour of driving it took to get from school to her apartment, he might as well reach his breaking point before they hit half-time, leaving her in the car and going on by foot or something, if this silence wasn't going to stop soon.

And Yona seemed to have similar thoughts; he almost laughed out loud when her fingers moved towards the radio, fiddling with the buttons until the last-heard station rang through the car. The stifling silence was broken by thumping bass, and Hak flinched; he'd never enjoy those silly pop-beats.

_' - head, boy, your loving is all I can think about. I just can't get you out of my head, boy, it's more than I dare to think about. Every night, every day, just to be there in your arms.. Won't you stay? Won't you s – “_

Yona almost face-palmed and changed the station so fast it had to be a new record. What the hell? When had they started to play Kylie Minogue again, of all things? Was this supposed to be some sort of earthly punishment or something? Her cheeks burnt red as she sat back again, avoiding Hak's questioning glance. The frequency indicator ran through ever-increasing figures, until a new station was found. Guitar riffs, off-beat feeling – she glanced at the radio, stunned, a smile painting her lips. She hadn't heard that song in ages.

_' – a dream about her, she rings my bell. I got gym class in half an hour, oh, how she rocks, in keds and tube socks, but she doesn't know who I am, and she doesn't give a damn about me – cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby, jeah I'm just a tee – “_

The music stopped abruptly, and she threw a confused glance at Hak as it was _his_ hand all but slapping to the radio this time – and so quickly he almost drove off their lane while at it.

What the hell was going on today? Like, twenty-year-old-song day or something? He felt like back in high-school; the only positive aspect about the current situation only being that Yona didn't actually love someone else this time. Maybe not him either, okay, but he could work with that. The only question remained if he _should_ work with that. And, oh my god, couldn't she just _say_ something, finally? Annoyed, he pushed two buttons on the device, and the settings changed to CD. He didn't even know anymore when he'd burned that, but it honestly couldn't get any worse anymore, music-wise.

_' – and then we'll do it doggy style so we can both watch X-files. You and me, baby, ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the discovery ch – “_

At the same time, both their hands touched over the 'Off' button, both of them staring in utter disbelief at the radio. The stoplight was red, so Hak threw her a disturbed look that was met with equal exasperation. Both sucked in a deep breath, until Hak suddenly couldn't help himself anymore.

He threw his arms onto the steering wheel as his whole body shook with laughter, and he almost choked as he thought about the utter absurdity of the situation. It didn't take long for a quiet sicker from the passenger seat to meet his ears, and all of a sudden even Yona couldn't stop laughing anymore, pressing her hand to her face in disbelief. The warm glow washing away all the awkwardness from before settled over him until the honk of the car behind them suddenly let him know that the stoplight had actually turned green again quite some time ago, but he couldn't find it in him to care. Switching gears with a grin, he pushed the gas pedal down, and the amused huffs didn't stop even as they finally took a turn to the parking lots in front of Yona's building.

  
  


*****

  
  


„Alright, I think we agree that this was the weirdest drive we ever had“, Yona laughed quietly and put her keys down on the dresser near the entrance just as the front door shut closed behind them.

„Not just that drive. The whole evening was .. unusual“, he murmured, putting his suit jacket on a hanger, while Yona stared unabashedly at the muscles pulling taught under his tight dress shirt. He had to grin, putting the garment onto a hook in front of him. Did she really think she was subtle? „Should I, you know, take off my shirt? That much more to ogle at.“ He turned to her and opened the topmost button with an expression of perfectly fake worry until Yona blushed bright red and hit his shoulder with a huff before walking past him into the living room, dropping unceremoniously down on the couch.

„It's unbelievable, what an importunate cow“, she grumbled, and Hak just flopped down next to her with a laugh, casually propping his ankle on his knee and leaning back. „Who even comes to a parent-teacher conference wearing something like that? And who the hell even visits the sports teacher only after already making time for it?“ She huffed irritably and threw herself back into the cushions as Hak smiled covertly next to her. „Wipe that stupid smile off your face, idiot“, her mouth pulled into a pout and she turned into the other direction with a 'hmph', making him throw his head back with laughter. „And you even flirted back, too. Moron.“ Red cheeked, she crossed her arms and did her best to avoid his amused gaze.

„Jealous?“, he grinned, and her head snapped towards him again like lightning, discontent eyes burning into his.

„What? No! It's just – she – you – that – “, she broke off and buried her head in her hands, elbows resting on her knees. „Maybe. So what? To bait me like that just to get me to help you get rid of her, you're the worst. Meanie.“ He had to laugh again, finally leaning closer to tousle her flaming red hair.

„Yeah, I totally am“, he confirmed with a nod, „but I really just wanted to see your reaction.“ Her eyes widened and locked with his, and a sigh spilled from his lips. „I'm sorry, by the way. I shouldn't have kissed you just like that. And in front of some bimbo, at that. Seriously“, running a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture, he couldn't help feeling upset again. „I don't want you to feel uncomfortable with me. I was just - “ _totally confused because of you and I couldn't really think anymore, just like always -_ „I'm sorry, Yona.“

He was honestly afraid of her reaction, of what she would say next, but to his surprise her bell-like laughter suddenly broke the tense silence. His head snapped to her, watching as she pushed a wild strand of hair behind her ear with a chuckle.

„You seriously have nothing to feel sorry about, Hak, _seriously._ You've got every right to kiss someone who's calling you _'darling'.“_ She had to grin at his surprised face, but along with her next words, a warm smile flitted across her features. „At least I'm not sorry. I don't think I've ever been kissed like that, to be honest.“ She moved her hand towards her mouth in thought, head tilting to the side as her pointer finger lightly tipped her lips a few times, and he could only stare at her open-mouthed. „Besides, I all but threw myself at you trying to shaft that wench – no questions asked if you perhaps _liked_ her attention – so it's actually me who should apologize'', she grumbled. The mere though of Hak finding that dumb blonde attractive in any way just rubbed her the wrong way.

„Don't worry, princess“, he got up with a grin and sauntered towards the kitchen, no doubt about to brew some much-needed coffee. He stopped at the doorway, though, turning back to her with a smirk. „I wanted jack shit from her – but I'm digging it when you throw yourself at me.“

  
  


*****

  
  


„ _That's_ what he said?!“

Lili's mouth formed a perfect 'O', and Yona probably would have laughed, had she not been blushing like mad as she recounted the happenings to her friend. Instead, she only nodded weakly.

„And afterwards? Did you finally kiss him? Like, _really_ kiss him, not like that preschooler kiss of yours in the gym“, the black-haired woman leaned forward with a manic gleam in her eyes sputtered indignantly.

„It was _not_ a preschooler kiss! It was … nice“, if at all possible, she was turning even redder, and she pushed her head into her hands before the next words left her mouth. „And.. you were right, Lili. I want to kiss him again. And not just like that, either. I _want_ him. What the hell do I do? Help me“, exhaustedly, she dropped her head to the table; all of this had happened a week ago, but she hadn't had the time to sit down and talk to Lili in the meantime – the other woman had been to some sports resort up in the mountains with her class. For lack of interest, Yona had already forgotten where exactly.

„He cooked for us, and then we went to sleep. Like, both of us went to sleep on their own, in their own bed. And the rest of the week just went as always“, with an annoyed expression, she looked back up again and dropped her fist onto the tabletop in frustration. „But I don't want _as always_ anymore, Lili. I don't want him to just go ahead and find some other girl. I don't want to go home alone anymore, and I especially don't want him to leave again once the Dojo's been renovated. I want to have him with me. All the time. And not just as a _best friend,_ either. Seriously, I'm starting to hate those words.“

Stunned, but incredibly pleased, Lili leaned back in her seat and took a calculating look at her friend; the two of them the only people in the teacher's lounge once more.

„Finally. I've been waiting for that kind of monologue since 12th grade. But, sure, I'll help you – or rather, I'll help Hak. Really gotta have sympathy for that poor guy, honestly..“, she rolled her eyes and took another sip of coffee. „I have to return the favor for that date with Soo-won, anyway. He's not Geun-tae, but sometimes you just have to realign.“

Now Yona had to laugh. It had been really shocking to hear Lili talk about last weekend. Who would've thought that Soo-won would take her advice to heart and really pay Lili a visit? Anyway, she was honestly happy for her friend.

„So, you'll have to take the first step. Hak's gonna be unsure because of the kiss and won't want to force you into anything, that's probably why he's acting like nothing happened at all. He most likely has no idea about what you want, if you liked it – in contrast to me he doesn't see how you've been fawning over him for years.“ Yona's eyes went wide, and Lili had to roll her eyes again; her friend really was oblivious in questions of the heart.

„But no matter. You have to show him that you want more, and that one's gonna be pretty easy“, a diabolic grin appeared on her angelic face, and Yona glanced cautiously at her. „Seduce him“, her teeth glinted in the sunshine coming in through the windows. „You promised him a massage, didn't you? So, when is he gonna get it?“

The redheaded woman sucked in a breath. She had all but forgotten about that – Lili was brilliant. „That's it!“ With a jump, she was out of her chair and pulled her arms around her friend's shoulders in a bear hug. „Thanks, Lili! I don't know what I'd do without you!“

And seconds later, she had already left her laughing friend to her own affairs and ran along the corridors towards the band room. It was already after seventh period, and just a handful students were still mingling about. Hak would be at the gym for another hour with Abarai, Kurosaki and Hitsugaya; she only hoped that Jae-ha hadn't left already.

Totally out of breath, she came to a stop in front of the music teacher's classroom, putting her hands on her knees for support while trying to get her heartbeat under control again. Yes, she needed advice on seduction – if she was honest with herself, she didn't know the first thing about wrapping someone around her little finger, and Lili had already helped her enough. Besides, no one would know better how to turn on a man than a man, right? And of all men she knew, only one came to mind who'd have that kind of conversation with her. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the door handle down.

„Hey, Jae-ha! Are you still – oh, shit!“, in her hurry, she hadn't even stopped to think about knocking and just thrown the door open, and now she was hit with Jae-ja and Kija, totally entangled in what had to have been a make-out session in front of the piano. „Oh my god, I am so sorry! I didn't know you were – I wasn't trying to – sorry!“ With cheeks as red as her hair she turned around again, trying to get away as fast as possible, when Jae-ha's calm voice stopped her in her tracks.

„Yona, darling – you're fine. Kija-kun is just a little shocked, it seems“, said white-haired man was currently standing in the furthest corner from Jae-ha, red-faced and shaking, „don't worry about him, though. What did you need?“ Her green-haired friend grinned at her reassuringly and motioned for her to take a seat somewhere.

With a burning face she took his invitation and sat somewhere in the first row, usually reserved for students, while the music teacher made himself comfortable on the chair in front of the piano, smiling patiently at her.

„Kija, don't you want to take a seat as well?“, he glanced over her shoulder briefly, but was totally ignored as the man in question obviously tried to make the floor open up and swallow him whole. „Alright, suit yourself. So, what's up, love?“

„..I want to seduce Hak.“

If she hadn't had his attention before, now she certainly got it. For the first time in her life she saw Jae-ha with an open mouth and wide eyes – an expression he usually avoided to the death for of aesthetical reasons – and even Kija; elegant, poised Kija; stared at her with an utterly disturbed look on his face, totally forgetting the embarrassing way their whole encounter had started.

„I'm not sure I got that right, Yona. You – you _what_?“ Jae-ha leaned forward in his seat, almost hanging over the piano at this point, waiting for her answer.

„You did. I want to seduce Hak, so I need your help“, she was squirming, and she knew it; clearing her throat, she almost felt as if this was a job interview of some sort. The atmosphere was rather strange. „I've finally come to terms with the fact that I don't just wanna be his _best_ _friend._ I _want_ him. And for reasons I'm not entirely comfortable discussing right now I need to be the one to take the first step, or everything will stay the way it is now. And to be honest, I can't stand the way it is now anymore, so – help me. Please.“

She dropped her head in a small bow as if to convey the severity of the situation, but Kija's enraged roar behind her made her jump and look up immediately again.

„What?! You want to – with this imbecile?! I can't believe it! Jae-ha, talk her out of this!“

The other man seemed to finally come out of his stupor and crossed his legs in thought, putting an elbow on his knee and dropping his head in his hand. A slow smile spread across his face as he watched the nervous young woman in front of him. He had never seen her this _alive_ before, even though she generally wore her heart on her sleeve.

„I'm sorry, Kija. I've been on Hak's team since before I even knew you existed. So, Yona, how can I assist you, exactly?“

Relieved, she took a deep breath and met his eyes. „Well, I've got experience, but that doesn't exceed a couple of one-night-stands", Kija nearly fainted in the background, but she ignored him skillfully. „So naturally, I've never really tried seducing someone. I've got no idea what he might be into, and I've also got no idea where to even start. So I thought I'd ask you? You're a man, and I assumed you had quite some experience in that regard. Do you have some advice for me, maybe?“

Jae-ha closed his eyes, his grin turning even wider as he chuckled. If Hak only knew what was happening right now.

„To be honest, love, you can't do anything wrong. I'm guessing Hak has been waiting for you for, I don't know, a decade, give or take?“, her eyes went wide. „So, no matter what you do, I'm sure it's gonna blow his mind. The only advice I got for you is to just be yourself, as basic as that sounds. He loves you, darling, whether he's already told you or not, so it would be kind of counterproductive to pose as some seductress you really don't feel like being. Do it your way, whatever you think of is ideal already. No idea I might give you could keep up with that. Does that help?“

She was staring at him with wide eyes, but – yes. Yes, that actually helped alright. She had mostly been worried about not being able to think of anything sexy enough, but the way he just put it, that might not actually be a problem.

„Yes, Jae-ha. More than you might think“, she laughed, jumping out of her seat again and rushing over to the stunned man to quickly pull him into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to his cheek in thanks. „I'm sorry for interrupting, just keep going! See you later, guys!“ - and she was gone.

Still grinning, Jae-ha turned to his boyfriend.

„You heard her, sweetheart. We should really keep going, come here.“ Demonstratively, he opened his arms wide, but Kija only blushed to the roots of his hair again, marching past him and out of the room as well. Sighing, the older man dropped his head, chin touching his chest. „Alright. Then don't.“


	8. Hot Desires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whatever had weighted on her mind seemed to be gone then, just like his composure at her next words: „Hak, take off your shirt.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, I'm finally back with another chapter, and it's gonna get steamy (I'll probably have to think about the rating again soon)... and i feel like y'all are going to hate me as soon as you're through with it, because, honestly, I kinda hate myself for it as well '^^ I was thinking about rewriting this again, but... nah. I chose to post an old story, so I'll just stick to it.
> 
> Anyway, have fun, guys - read you in the comments, hopefully! <3

Warily, his icy blue eyes traced each and every one of her moves, until she finally disappeared behind the door to her room.

Strange. Really strange.

She'd been acting weirdly all day; he'd been about ready to force her to sit on the backseat during their drive to school in the morning. All of her fidgeting had seriously started to distract him from the road, and it only got worse during their lunch break – but on the drive home she'd been barely tolerable at best. What the hell was going on with her? Why did she suddenly seem so nervous? And, what was seriously rubbing him the wrong way: why did she only seem that nervous around him? Had he messed something up?

He threw his jacket over the back of the couch with a huff and made his way to the kitchen, thinking desperately about anything he could have done to make her so unsure, but he seriously came up empty. Lost in thought, he poured himself a cup of cold left-over coffee from breakfast and sat down at the counter. How was he supposed to fix something he didn't even know the cause of? God, he was seconds away from banging his head against the wooden surface until he dropped dead and never had to think about that little witch again, when a small voice from the kitchen entrance ripped him out of his agony.

„Hak? Everything alright?“, his eyes snapped to the woman possessing his each and every thought, only to just about pop out of his head in shock.

She'd obviously changed in her room; no trace left of the grey blouse and white pants; and her hair, formerly tied in a neat ponytail, was now flowing around her face in fiery strands. But what really got to him was what she was wearing: the grey, long-sleeved T-shirt he'd all but forced on her the week before in his panic; and, as far as he could tell, she wasn't even wearing any pants. Her infinitely long, creamy-white legs were completely bare from her little toes to the seam of the shirt hitting just above mit-thigh.

And,  _ damn. _ It had already looked hot to no end the week before; but today, after the shit-show that was the last days, he almost couldn't stand seeing her in  _ his _ clothes. How the hell could she even manage to look that good in a man's shirt, the fabric totally straight, not form-fitting whatsoever? The idea of knocking himself out with the counter top seemed more and more like an option.

„I – well – can we perhaps move to the sofa?“, her hands were playing with the seam of his shirt, pulling it up slightly in a nervous gesture. He just wanted to die.

„Sure“, he grit out, placing his half-empty mug in the sink and following her to the living room. He couldn't help face-palming when he got a good look at her outfit from the back, then, and he honestly didn't know how to survive all of this anymore. Taking a deep, calming breath, he took a seat next to her on the couch, watching as she pulled one of her legs beneath her little body as she turned in her seat to face him. The seam moved upwards again, and he could swear he'd caught a glimpse of black panties at this point before forcefully pulling his gaze to the ceiling and then to her face once again.

„You know – “, she paused and bit her lip, lost in thought; not much more and he would have moaned in annoyance, „I just remembered something today.“

He lifted an eyebrow, his full attention now settling on her as he threw her a questioning glance. „Oh, yeah? And what was that?“

Offhandedly, she nodded to herself and sat up straight all of a sudden. Her eyes suddenly found his with a burning, steady glare, and he could only jerk back, startled at her intensity. Whatever had weighted on her mind seemed to be gone then, just like his composure at her next words: „Hak, take off your shirt.“

He stared at her wordlessly, but she didn't try to avoid his eyes; her poised attitude remained unchanged as she no doubt waited for him to follow her orders. „Uhm.. I'm … not quite sure I follow, princess“, he spluttered, and his jaw felt heavy from tension.

„I promised you a massage last week, and I still haven't honored it. So, take off your shirt, please.“

They were looking at each other for what had to be mere seconds but felt like years; Yona ready to take him on, Hak disbelieving and dry. Until he broke into laughter.

„Tch“, his hand pressed to his mouth to keep from outright guffawing, but he couldn't help it. „ _ That's _ what had you so nervous all day?“, he threw his head back and laughed out loud towards the ceiling, not noticing Yona's annoyed glare at his reaction. „Seriously, princess. That was just some excuse to get rid of that wench; nobody demands anything from you, especially if you have to pump yourself up like that for even suggesting it.“ His laughter died down to low chuckles as he bent forward again, elbows on his knees and head buried in his hands so she wouldn't be able to see his broad grin.

An angry huff was his only warning before he felt her move next to him. Within seconds, she was standing on the couch, walking across the cushions and sitting down on the backrest just behind him, when her naked, smooth legs suddenly slung across his waist, forcing him to sit up straight – totally shocked – as her tiny feet settled on the cushion again, directly between his legs. „Yona, what – “, his heart was pounding up to his throat as small fingers deftly lifted the hem of his shirt and began to pull the fabric upwards without further questions.

His skin  _ burned _ wherever her knuckles grazed him, and a quiet gasp left his lips when she started to impatiently pull on the shirt, obviously wanting him to lift his arms and help her get it off him. Quickly, the offending piece of clothing was discarded, and Hak finally got to throw a look at the fierce woman behind him, his cheeks freaking  _ burning  _ as if he was a middle schooler as she laid her hands on his naked torso with a determined expression. A low hum left her, smooth fingers moving in circles along his neck, his shoulders, and everything was going too fast – he didn't even begin to understand what the hell was happening just then. Without his permission, a throaty moan ripped from his chest as soon as she began to massage the tense muscles near his neck.

„This is – you don't have to –  _ ahhhh _ “, his chin met his chest, and normally he'd be absolutely mortified about all of the embarrassing noises he was making even though she was barely even touching him, but he honestly couldn't help it. What the  _ hell _ was happening?

„I know“, her soft voice near his ear did things to him he'd  _ never _ admit out loud, „but I want it.“

His eyes snapped open – he hadn't even noticed when they shut from pleasure – and he wanted to ask what all of this meant, for her, for  _ them _ , but her magical fingers were slowly sliding down then, massaging his shoulder blades while her thighs and calves tightened around him to pull him closer to her, and he lost every train of thought. He growled, deep and hoarse, when the pressure on his muscles increased for a short time, almost turning painful, only to dissolve into pure bliss as she worked out his tensions one by one.

Her cheeks flared crimson, teeth gnawing at her lip as another of his groans met her ears, and she seriously had to keep herself from tightening her legs again. She'd never heard anything like that before; that deef moan – she couldn't understand how just his voice was able to make her feel so hot and bothered already, but she knew that she wanted to hear more. She'd keep spoiling him until she knew all of his reactions, until she knew every sigh, every groan by heart.

Her hands slid lower still, working on the hard, lean muscle grazing his sides and he panted, leaning forward into the pain and grasping her ankles with strong fingers, thumbs brushing her delicate skin. Shocked, her legs jerked and she drew in a startled breath, only to relax into the caress a few seconds later, stroking softly up his back again with the tips of her fingers. Gently, she began to knead his upper arms, stroking the tension from his strong bicep, moving up his neck again, fingers burrowing in his hair. Her nails scratched carefully across his scalp then, and another groan left his mouth as he threw his head back until it sat propped against her chest. His eyes fell closed once again in pleasure, feeling her featherlight touch stroke his hair back from his face. „Mhhh.. Yona..“

Okay. Alright, that was enough. She wanted to seduce him; wanted to make him moan her name totally unrestrained, and it had  _ worked _ – but she hadn't really thought about what all of this was going to do to  _ herself. _ Literally everything he did was making her so hot, she felt like she was losing her head; his body, his voice, his reactions – she didn't just want to hear him anymore, she wanted to  _ see. _

Before he could even guess at what was going on in her head, her legs uncurled from their vice grip on his waist and a hand on his chest was pushing him to the side, forcing him down until he was lying on his back across the cushions. He was barely able to push up onto his elbows when Yona moved his legs onto the couch as well and slung one bare leg across his hips, palms fanning out on his chest as she propped herself up over him before she sat down on his thighs.

„Yona, what – “, his eyes widened when their gazes met for the first time since she'd started this. Her fiery hair moved in wild curls around her face, glowing in a color not unlike the red of her cheeks as she bit on her lower lips, devouring him with violet orbs. „What are you trying to – oh  _ fuck _ !“

Her fingers grasped at his chest, beginning to massage his pectorals and, shit,  _ that _ was a type of massage he'd never experienced before. He pushed his head back into the cushion and grit his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut in order to somehow be able to deal with this situation, but his brain seemed to short-circuit. Her tiny fingers stoked his every scar, every muscle; and if she, out of some stroke of luck, hadn't already realized how fucking hard her touch had made him so far,  _ now _ she'd see.

„Hak..“ Through half-closed lids she caught his stunned gaze and bit her lip again, already swollen and dark red in order to keep in an embarrassing moan as her forefinger barely grazed his nipple, making him keen. His eyes were hooded as well, but she could see their color to be almost black right now; no trace left of the bright, icy blue she usually loved so much – but she quickly decided that she loved  _ this _ look even more. She raised her hand from his chest and grasped his, putting it onto her thigh in an invitation that was neither mistakeable nor subtle, but she knew that he still didn't seem to understand what it was she was asking of him. „Hak..  _ please. _ “

She could see his Adam's apple pop when his fingers touched her smooth skin softly, and her head rolled back in pleasure. Her fingers moved along his chest, moving lower with every circling motion. His abs jerked with tension beneath her touch, and, without thinking about it at all, sat up on her knees to move further up his body before finally lowering herself into his lap.

Time stopped, and suddenly there was only moaning filling the room; she didn't know if it was his or hers, but this incredible sensation of feeling him, his hardness, even with all of the cumbersome layers of cloth between them, was almost too much. She pressed up against him, and his hands tightened around her thighs, pulling her closer as well -

\- until they shot up, gripping her hips and holding her still as he sat up abruptly, only to push her onto her back and into the cushions at the other end of the couch a second later.

„Stop, I – stop.“, he swallowed roughly, „Yona, what  _ is _ this?“ His gaze was still pitchblack and his breath came in short, hard pants as he sat up, trying to gain as much distance as possible from the little witch beneath him. But she was only staring back up at him, mute and with wide eyes, cheeks a dark red in the low lighting, and he closed his eyes, tantalized, wondering if he'd ever be able to get rid of this image again. „What is this..?“, he whispered and winced as her soft hand settled on his cheek.

„Hak, I..“, she stopped short and glanced to the side while he was studying her every move. „That was – you – I wanted – “ She pulled up her arms and crossed them over her eyes, taking a deep breath. What had she been thinking? Seduce him? Her? She wasn't even sure if he wanted her in the same way as she wanted him, which was to say, strictly not only physically, but as a whole package deal, and in order to establish that, she threw herself at him? She exhaled a shaky breath. Somehow she just wanted to run, run and never see that confused look of his ever again.

Without warning, she sat up and pulled her legs from underneath him, getting up before he could say anything else. She felt humiliated like never before, just about to storm into her room and never come out again, when he suddenly jumped up as well and pulled her into his arms from behind; gently, almost as if he was scared of startling her. Reluctantly, a careful hand settled on her head, and she closed her eyes, feeling his warmth.

„If you think I'll just let you run off like that after the best damn massage of my life, you got another thing coming“, he murmured, laying his cheek on her hair. Yona laughed at that, and he grinned when he felt her relaxing and leaning back into him. „So, you gonna tell me what was happening in here over the last twenty-something minutes? Somewhere between 'Let's talk' and 'Hak, take off your shirt“ I seem to have lost track..“, he chuckled. Turning her towards him, he tried to meet her eyes, but she was avoiding his gaze. He sighed deeply and brought his head into her line of sight. „Yona.“

She swallowed, hearing his tone. Glancing up at him, she lost all will to fight and hung her head. „I – “, god damnit, couldn't she even finish a sentence anymore? She was so annoyed with herself, huffing. „I can't do this anymore!“

Startled, he drew his head back. „And.. what exactly?“

Irritatedly she pushed a finger into his chest, making him raise an incredulous eyebrow at her sudden flare of anger. „Well, all of this!“, she cried and ran an agitated hand through her wild locks, fixing him with a crazed stare. Seldom as they were, this was one of the moments he had no clue what was going on in that head of hers. „I don't even know what I was thinking! We've known each since we were little kids, you're the most important person in my life – have been, for years!“, his heart almost stopped then, but she just kept talking, „What the hell is wrong with me? To put all of that to risk – how could I – I would die if you – “

Exhaustedly she stopped herself short then, dropping to her knees and burrowing her head into her hands as if it was too heavy. „Yona ..“, he was totally out of his depth, wanting to settle down next to her, to stroke her hair until she felt calmer, better – but whatever it was that distressed her, she immediately held up a hand in defense as if sensing his plans, and he was unprepared for the amount of confusion and pain that single gesture of distance caused him. How had this evening escalated from one of the most erotic encounters in his life to this catastrophy? And he didn't even understand  _ why. _

„No, Hak, please, I..“, she took a deep breath and got up again. Her head turned to the side, and he couldn't see her face. „I'm really sorry, Hak.“ She turned around and began to walk towards her bedroom. „I think I'll go to bed now. Please, just forget everything that's happened tonight, okay? Please.“

He could only stare at her back as she moved down the hall with quick steps. Startling from his shock, he went to move after her. „Yona, would you just fucking  _ talk _ to me – “, but his only answer was the shutting sound of her bedroom door, and he couldn't even remember when he had last felt so damn dejected. Probably not ever. His shoulders sagged, and he suddenly felt years older than he actually was; there was no trace left of the relaxation that had settled in his muscles ten minutes before.

Apathetically he slumped back down on the sofa that seemed to be mocking him with the rumpled cushions, and in that moment, he didn't know whether he should just pack his stuff and leave, give her some space. But his worry for her predominated and, without thinking about the fact that it was only eight o'clock and nobody in their twenties went to bed at eight fucking o'clock (apart from Jae-Ha, perhaps, with all his misconceptions about beauty sleep), he shut off all the lights and laid down on the couch.

He sort of hoped that this was all just a weird dream, and that he'd soon wake up, well rested and realizing that all of this had just been a strange concoction of his subconscious – but her lingering scent next to his face, and the fact that he didn't manage to get a wink of sleep at all that night destroyed all of his hopes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... yeah, it's bad... xD


	9. Big Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The apartment door had fallen into the lock next to him despite the key being stuck inside.
> 
> Yona had left for school without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...aaaaand some more unnecessary drama. i'm seriously sorry, guys '^^

Bam!

As if stung by a tarantula, he jumped up and in about a quarter of a second leapt into a defensive pose that would have moved Mun-dok to tears... if he hadn't been standing on the seat cushions of the sofa and almost lost his balance immediately afterwards. His hair stood up in all directions as he tried to grasp the situation with panicked eyes.

The apartment door had fallen into the lock next to him despite the key being stuck inside.

Yona had left for school without him.

Dejected, he dropped into the seats and laid his head back on the back of the seat. Okay, he had screwed something up. Something that now threatened to destroy the entire dynamic between Yona and him that they had spent decades building - and he had no idea how to fix it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, deep in thought, when suddenly a soft ringing caught his attention.

"What the hell?".

Curious, he got up and followed the louder signal to Yona's abandoned room. Her cell phone lay lonely on the nightstand - she had obviously forgotten it in her haste, and he couldn't help but smile humorlessly. A glance at the display showed an incoming call from Lili, which he accepted with mounting confusion. Just as he was about to ask what she might need at - he glanced at the small alarm clock - 7:04 in the morning from Yona, he was interrupted before he could even get out a 'good morning'.

"Hey you cougar - how did it go with Hak yesterday! Did it work out?!" the excited voice entered his ear, no doubt assuming that Yona had picked up, and as he realized what she had asked, he became increasingly irritated. "Hello? Yona? Are you still there?"

"..Yona is already on her way to school, but I'm thinking more and more that you and I have some things to talk about too, Lili...". An audible gulp on the line was his only reply. "You do have first period off, right? I think you should check out the gym..."

  
She felt sick to her stomach. Empty eyes gazed back at her from the mirror in the teacher's restroom as she tiredly splashed cold water on her face, hoping that the dark circles under her eyes would just wash off. But of course, she wasn't so lucky. 

She sighed and stepped back out into the still eerily empty corridors of the school building; she was already sorry that she had just come here without Hak, and it had only been thirty minutes since she had left her apartment! She really needed to apologize, but how exactly was she going to do that?! Desperately, she bit her lower lip and shuffled toward the teachers' lounge. She needed advice, and urgently, but Lili didn't teach until second period on Fridays. She snorted softly; although he would never try anything romantic with her, there was no denying that Geun-tae did undoubtedly give the little black-haired girl preferential treatment when it came to lesson plans.

As if on autopilot, she sat down in the deserted teachers' lounge and prepared her first two lessons; she didn't notice how her colleagues slowly trickled in around her, nor how Kurosaki and Abarai eyed her with concerned looks as she absent-mindedly conducted her usual twelfth-grade lesson. She noted Kye-Sook's renewed absence in the class register without comment, but her busy brain barely had time to think about it more deeply as the day slowly passed her by. 

Again and again she entered the teachers' room during her breaks, hoping to see Lili sitting at her usual place at the window - she was really preferred - but there was no trace of her best friend, and so she finally gave it up after her last visit at the end of the eighth lesson and decided dejectedly to make her way home.

I wonder if Hak was home already? She sighed. Somehow she had to fix this, and she had to fix it today. Her heels clicked on the polished stone floor of the hallway when she suddenly noticed that the door to her twelfth grade regular class was still open. 

"Urrg, get a grip, Hiryuu," she groaned in annoyance, walking quickly toward the room. She had completely forgotten to lock it after her last history lesson. Sighing, she pulled her universal key out of her pocket and reached for the handle when suddenly, without warning, it was pulled inside and the door slammed shut behind her.

"Gotcha," growled a deep voice behind her, and she whirled around in shock as she recognized her student - but that wasn't all. Her eyes widened at the sight of the dark blue welts across his face and his cracked lip, and in one fell swoop she forgot all her other problems.

"Kye-sook, what - "

"Oh no, now I'm talking"

"Oh man." That was all she could think of to say about the whole story her black-haired colleague and good friend had just told her. Sighing, she brought her left elbow down on the table and rested her forehead in a fit of mental fatigue. This had to be a bad joke.

"Believe me, I wish the same," the deep voice of her counterpart snapped her out of her disappointed thoughts, and she realized she must have said that last one out loud.

"Hak, I... I don't know what to tell you," she finally brought out and took a deep sip of coffee, hoping that she would have all the answers in the world after that. Hmm... maybe after the next sip.

"You don't have to give me advice on that either, Lili, I just want to know what was going on with Yona yesterday - and I think you know exactly". His steely eyes fixed her, and she knew she wouldn't get out of this situation in one piece without telling him the truth.

"It's my fault. I told her to throw herself at you," his wide eyes would have been almost comical, and she had to smile as she raised her hand to stop him from interrupting her. "I can see how you've been looking at her for years - oh come on, it's too late to blush now, get a grip - and unlike you, I can see how she looks at you too. Since that incident in the shower, she's finally starting to see it herself, and she wanted to change the status quo the last time I saw her." 

A smile flitted across her face as the usually stoic, red-cheeked gym teacher averted his gaze, suddenly finding the wall in his small office most exciting. She looked out through the glazed wall of the friendly little room into the empty gym and had to admit that there were definite advantages to undergoing such physical exertion. 

"That was yesterday. I actually only suggested it because I didn't think she'd go through with it anyway and just talk to you - I had no idea she'd suddenly go the exact opposite of her usual course of action." Depressed, the black-haired girl hung her head and closed her eyes. "Hak, I know you feel kind of put out, but - "

"I know, I'll talk to her after work". A small smile settled on his lips as he caught her astonished look. "I misinterpreted the whole thing yesterday - I didn't know the half of it. Don't worry, you'll be fine." Grinning, he accepted her empty cup and placed it in the sink in the corner as she stood up and walked to the door, smiling. 

"Alright, you do that. I really hope you two finally get your act together. If this keeps up, I'm going to have gray hair before I turn thirty." Distraught, she screwed up her face and he had to laugh out loud.

"I hope so, too. And, Lili?"

Curious, she turned again in the threshold and regarded the tall man in front of her with a sharp look, waiting for the punch line.

"Thanks."

  
"Hey, Hak! How's it going with Hiryuu-san, anyway?"

In shock, he almost dropped the weights he was about to carry back to the equipment room. Renji and Ichigo were just helping him put away the last of the paraphernalia after their impromptu workout when Abarai, charming as ever, dropped the bomb.

"W-what's with her?" he muttered, setting the stuff in his hands down in the far corner; he couldn't look at her right now, especially not when he was suddenly stuttering like a kindergartner. God, he just wanted to slap his forehead with the flat of his hand until he dropped dead.

"You know exactly what I mean - are you guys together now or what?"

Ichigo sighed in the background and made his way to the locker room with a disinterested wave, but the redhead just wouldn't let up.

"I don't see what business it is of yours, Abarai," he growled, pushing past his student and back into the hall. Five more mats and a punching bag - if it meant he'd have his peace then, he could actually clean that up on his own. "You can go ahead, I'll do this," he muttered, waving distractedly in Renji's direction, hoping he'd leave it at that.

"Hey, as much time as we all spend together I would say we are friends". Hak's incredulous look made him roll his eyes. "Yeah yeah, you're our teacher, sure, but I know you pretty well by now - I think it's an appropriate question".

Irritated, Hak let go of the chain on the punching bag he was about to undo and eyed the young man in front of him, who was staring at him with his arms crossed. "What do you want me to say? That we're going to get married?!" he snorted, "nothing going on with her... not that it would fail because of me." The last part was mumbled as he turned back to the bag, but Renji had understood him anyway. 

"Oh, someone finally admitted how they feel!" the punk grinned, retying his sweaty hair as he was met by the killer stare of his 'friend'.

"No one here has admitted anything at all, okay? We're friends and - "

"Hey Abarai! I don't want to worry you, but didn't you have your crafting stuff with you earlier?", Ichigo's voice interrupted the discussion as he poked his head out of the locker room and into the hall.

"For the last time, that's not my 'craft stuff' - it's origami paper, and my foster dad/brother/whatever is totally into it," he growled back, though a pink tinge was forming on his cheeks, and Hak had to laugh in the background. "What's with the panic anyway, the cloth bag of stuff is in the locker room".

"Ehm... No. Sorry to break it to you, but there's nothing like that with your stuff. Did you even have it with you when we left for the gym?" came the skeptical reply, and Renji hung his head in annoyance.

"Abarai, when are you going to learn to take care of your stuff? I had to carry your backpack behind you at parents' night first," Hak now interfered, rolling his eyes, the punching bag long forgotten.

"Yeah yeah, all right. I'll change quickly and then we'll run to class again, Kurosaki. Hak - don't think I'll forget the conversation".

The oldest in the hall groaned in annoyance and cast a tired glance at Ichigo, who could only shrug his shoulders. "Sorry, man. I'll see you Monday." He gave him a quick wave and then walked back to the dressing rooms behind his colleague, but Hak could only throw his head back and ask the heavens what he had done to deserve this.

"Oh, yes, I'm glad of that"

  
"Kye-sook, what --"

Anger shot through him and she barely had time to blink before he dragged her forward to the lectern and long fingers closed around her neck, pinning her to the board. She couldn't breathe, and her eyes were wide as she dug her nails into his wrists in a panic to get him away from her. Her legs hovered twenty inches off the floor; she had already lost one shoe at the door, the heel of the other scraping across the wall as she kicked and tried to kick it.

Her head was getting lighter, she realized with a start, and her eyes met his a shade darker with anger, as if by force of will she could make him suddenly let her go. He had barely said anything to her, not like last time; this time he was truly beside himself with rage, and she didn't know how to get out of the situation. "K-Kye-Sook, your face... was that.... - – “

"Shut up!" he yelled, his face contorting into a pained grimace as he briefly pulled her towards him, only to push her back against the board. "Shut up! You have no idea what you've done! It's all your fault!".

Her hand shot to his face and in a last ditch effort, she scratched his cheek; his face shot to the side, and thin red lines appeared on his skin, already discolored by bruising, which a little later trickled bloody across his jaw. But he did not let go of her. Pissed off, he turned back to her, and she slowly could no longer feel her legs.

"Hey, Hiryuu-san, good thing she's still - what the hell?!"

She had never been so glad to hear Abarai's voice as she was at that moment. A weight crashed down on Kye-Sook like a flash of orange lightning, and he was flung to the ground next to the tablet. She felt herself falling downward and slumped powerlessly on her knees, one hand on her neck as if she could massage blood back into her head. Renji crouched down beside her in a flash and put his hands on her shoulders to support her, while Kurosaki, who must have knocked Kyo-Sook down earlier, lifted the black-haired man up by the collar and pressed him against the wall beside the window.

"I don't know what this is about, but it looked to me like you were trying to kill her," Ichigo growled, pressing his forearm against Kye-Sook's chest to keep him at bay, "Give me one good reason not to bash your skull in right now, sicko."

"I don't know what this is about, but it looked to me like you were trying to kill her," Ichigo growled, pressing his forearm against Kye-Sook's chest to keep him at bay, "Give me one good reason not to bash your skull in right now, you sicko." His only response was a confused look as blood trickled from his classmate's temple; he had probably hit him harder than he thought earlier.

"Are you alright, Hiryuu-san?", Renji's concerned voice snapped her out of the 'conversation' by the window as his fingers gently brushed over the dark marks on her neck to examine the injury more closely. His face contorted painfully as if imagining how she was feeling right now, and she managed a weak smile as she patted his shoulder reassuringly and shifted her weight a little higher against the wall.

"Yes, again by now, thank you Renji. Now I really owe you one," she croaked more hotly, and he smiled in relief at her attempt at a joke. She had to cough for a moment, and the burning in her throat brought tears to her eyes, which she quickly blinked away. 

"I don't mean to interrupt, but what are we going to do with him?", Kurosaki had moved Kye-Sook to a desk by now and was holding his arms behind his back as he pushed him down onto the surface of the table. 

"Abarai, do you think you could get Hak? If he's free right now?" she had to cough again, which didn't seem to please her irritated airways much. Her statement was stupid, she knew that even without Renji's dry look; as if he wouldn't drop everything for her. Yona had to smile.

"Sure, I'll be right back," and he was out the door.

Sighing, she put her hands on the wall behind her and tried to push herself up. But fear was still in her bones, and her shaky legs couldn't hold her up. Her breath escaped her in one fell swoop as she slumped back on her heels.

"Careful, I can't catch you now," Ichigo murmured, and she nodded in agreement, though he probably couldn't see it. Kye-Sook kept trying to pull away, but the extra lessons with Hak in the gym had obviously paid off; he didn't move an inch.

"I'll have to inform the school administration this time, Kye-Sook," she said calmly as she stared at the opposite wall. She couldn't look past that. A student had tried to strangle her in the school building, not exactly what she had had in mind when she had chosen her career. "And Child Protective Services."

"You have no idea; it's a wonder you could even see me from your high horse," Kye-Sook growled, squirming even more in Kurosaki's grip now, but, as before, having no chance.

Silence settled over the room, broken only in between by Kye-Sook's fidgeting, and Yona leaned her head back.

Suddenly, footsteps came in from outside, if you could call it that; the person had to be walking so fast that the sounds blurred into each other; and when the door flew open, she could finally breathe in again.

Standing in the doorway was Hak, as out of breath as she had ever seen him; sweat was running down the back of his neck into his basketball shirt, and he braced himself briefly against his knees as his gaze swept the room in panic. He'd probably run straight here from the gym, maybe still working; she mentally headbutted herself for catching him off guard like that. His eyes landed on her, and the next second he was on his knees not two feet in front of her.

"Yona," he breathed, raising his hand to run his fingers gently over her neck. His icy blue gaze found hers and her breath caught at all the emotions swimming in it; as if he wanted to say so much, but he just couldn't think of the words. "Yona...", his feather light touch moved upwards until he held her head gently in his hands and rested his forehead against hers. Tears suddenly gathered in her eyes without her knowing why, and she closed them tightly as she leaned against him.

But the moment was broken when Kye-Sook tried to run away again and Ichigo leaned on him, growling to keep him quiet. Hak's eyes popped open and his head snapped from hers in the direction of the sound, so that her forehead was suddenly resting on his shoulder. She was about to complain when she felt his whole body tense up and she felt cold. Her gaze flew upward, but when she saw his face, she froze.

His eyes were narrowed and focused only on Kye-Sook, who by now looked a bit paler; his shoulders pulled back tightly so that even though he was still kneeling, he looked taller than anyone else in the room. Every muscle looked tense to the point of bursting, as if it took him the greatest effort to hold himself in his immobility, and his clenched teeth were clearly visible as he slowly pulled his lips back in a snarl.

"..So it was you...", his voice sounded expressionless, cold, the pure contradiction of his appearance, and Ichigo also backed away a meter now, not sure how the situation would develop. Three seconds passed as Hak gently pushed Yona away from him and placed a barely noticeable kiss on her forehead. Her eyes grew wide as she felt his breath on her skin, but before she could say anything back, the space in front of her was empty.

In no time he had jumped up and was now standing in the middle of the room, Kye-Sook dangling freely in the air as Hak lifted him up by the collar with his right hand; she shudderingly remembered being grabbed in a similar fashion earlier, but Kye-Sook certainly didn't have even a tenth of Hak's strength.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you pompous little shit?!" he made a jerky hand gesture as if to shake him to make his question clear, and Kye-Sook dangled helplessly back and forth with the gesture. The boy tried very hard to appear unimpressed, but his eyes slowly grew wide and his hands clutched Hak's wrist as Yona had his earlier. The blood on his cheek had already dried, but the angry red scratches still drew attention, they and the other bruises on his otherwise handsome face.

Hak's eyes narrowed when he saw them, and his gaze darted to Yona, who sat motionless on the ground, clutching her hand to her chest with a frightened look. She had been so distraught that she had simply tried to scratch him. His teeth gritted and he turned his head back to the boy in his grip. Anger rose in him as he imagined the whole situation; how he was cutting off her air and pinning her against the wall, and his hand began to tremble with tension. A rumble rose in his chest, and he cracked the knuckles of his left hand.

"Does that feel good, huh? Hurting someone weaker who can't fight back?! Let me try that too!", his left hand now grabbed him right by the neck and detached the right one that had only been holding his collar. Shocked, the boy's eyes widened, and Yona and her students - Abarai was finally here now too, he really was 'a loser' at sprinting - gasped loudly. "How long do you think we can do this now! Can you hold out for a minute, you weakling?!" he was already looking red with rage; his hand itched somehow in the desire to re-sort his face, and he felt oddly satisfied when he heard the black-haired man whimper in his grip. At least now he understood what it was all about.

"Hak," her soft voice snapped him out of his delirium, and he looked into her violet, calming eyes. "It's all right, Hak. I'm fine, besides, he's a student. You can't just threaten him. Please put him down," she had struggled to her feet with Ichigo's help and was now walking towards the two. "Please let him go, Hak," her hand settled on his shoulder and she leaned her forehead against his upper arm. 

Slowly, his eyes found the boy, who by now looked exhausted and was shaking all over. Hak exhaled haltingly and relaxed his cramped ankles. In a jerk, Kye-Sook slid out of his hand and onto the floor, where he gasped distraughtly. He clumsily scrambled to his feet and ran toward the door when Yona's harsh voice froze him.

"I'm not going to report you this time, I'm just going to report you to the principal. So at most, you'll be kicked out of school and won't get a criminal record," three indignant pairs of eyes darted to Yona and Ichigo and Renji were already starting to protest as she continued talking unperturbed, "If you dare tell anyone about what just happened, you can kiss this deal goodbye, is that clear?" her pitiless eyes bore into his as he quickly nodded and left the room in a hurry.

Astonished, everyone looked to Yona, who was now leaning powerlessly against Hak; immediately his arms wrapped around her and pressed her against him. "I'm sorry, princess. Just because I couldn't control myself, he gets away with it now..." he murmured into her hair as he stroked her back soothingly. She shook her head against his chest.

"You don't have to apologize, Hak. I know you shouldn't have, but I'm just grateful to you for intimidating him," she closed her eyes, "I don't think he'll try anything like that again. Possessively, his arms tightened around her, and his chin rested on her head. 

Hak's gaze fell on Renji and Ichigo, who were now leaning languidly against the wall next to the blackboard. "Thanks, guys. Really. I don't know how to repay you," his deep voice now sounded powerless and hotter, and the two students just shook their heads with smiles.

"You already do enough for us, besides, it was about Hiryuu-san. What would I do without her pretty face every day? I'm already thinking about sitting down just to save myself from that," Renji grinned, to which Yona and Hak laughed softly and Ichigo headbutted him.

"Shut up, you idiot," he turned to the two teachers, "but he's right, whenever we can help, we're happy to. And speaking of which, shouldn't we explain the whole thing to the principal?".

The adults glanced at each other and then nodded in sync. Hak wrapped an arm around her shoulder; he told himself it was just to support her; and the whole group left the room to stroll to the director's office. An oppressive silence fell over them, and Yona gave Hak a pleading look. He understood immediately and turned to the redhead.

"Oh yes, Abarai! What was that earlier?" a wide grin spread across his face as the punk's confused gaze met his, "That took you an hour to get back here! Starting next week, it's all sprint drills." Shocked, Renji took a breath to justify himself while Kurosaki laughed out loud beside him. 

"Very funny," he grumbled, "not everyone can develop superpowers when his girl is in danger." Now he grinned broadly and knowingly at Hak, whose face was slowly turning pink.   
Quickly, he clasped the lower half of his face with his right hand and looked in the other direction, whereupon the boys burst out laughing. 

With cheeks also red because of Renji's comment, Yona looked up at Hak, who met her gaze only briefly before looking away again. A hotter giggle escaped her lips as she wrapped her right arm around his middle as he did with her shoulder. Astonished, his blue eyes flashed in her direction, and she just shrugged as she laughingly buried her face in his side and the four of them continued on their way to the principal's office.


End file.
